Harry Potter and a Different Point of View
by GRYST
Summary: 6th year, 7th year, and beyond fic. Covered from many different points of view, some of which I hope are characterized correctly. Harry's gotta fight Voldemort and hopes to live a life afterwards. Let's see what happens. (HarryHermioneRon; not threesome,
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Harry Potter and a Different Point of View**

**Genre:** General

**Rating:** R

**Warnings:** Language, Violence, Sex, a little bit of everything

**Major Pairings:** H/Hr/R (It's a triangle, not a three-way. You terrible, terrible people!)

**Other Pairings:** H/G (Sickeningly platonic! In fact, their romantic relationship is only mentioned in passing.)

G/others (With regards to how Harry and Ron handle the guys after said  
relationships fall apart.)

RL/NT (Quick, but sad.)

(**A/N:** There are a lot more, but most of them are unimportant. The ones that aren't would give away some of the plot too early.)

**Summary:** 6th year, 7th year, and beyond fic. Covered from many different points of view, some of which I hope are characterized correctly. Harry's gotta fight Voldemort and hopes to live a life afterwards. Let's see what happens.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own a thing. Everything belongs to JKR, and the song I am going to use for this chapter belongs to Billy Joel. Please don't sue!

**A/N:** Sorry I took down "Day of Reckoning." It needed to be revised and the first couple of chapters required more length. I mean come on; a 900-word chapter is just pathetic! I hope to have the first three chapters, bigger and better, posted with Harry's sixth and seventh years soon. I would also like to make the same kind of progress with this fic. I know POV fics have been done before, but I wanted to give it a try. There will probably be many different looks at the same scene so mind the redundancies. Sorry! I am also going to use a few songs to set the mood for the chapters; I hoped that what I have selected fits.

**Chapter 1:** Harry's POV

It is just so cold here.

This place has been cold for me ever since we arrived in September, but now that the winter season has descended it has chilled me to the bone. Fuck! I really hate December, but it's not like I'm warm anywhere else. The Dursley's...yeah right! How about Grimmauld Place? I didn't want anything to do with it after Sirius died, and I especially don't want it now that Remus is gone as well.

If I ever find the Order member that gave away the headquarters' location I will rip him or her in half. At least Remus and Tonks got to go together, before the shit really hit the fan...just like my mum and dad. I was the only one that knew about those two, and I really wasn't supposed to find out. I guess that's as close as I'll ever get to a typical childhood situation; walking in on them making love was different. It freaked the hell out of me and I guess that's normal...right?

Fuck! It's just so cold out here!

It's my own damn fault I suppose. I'm sitting on the shores of the lake, skimming stones, with nothing but my normal clothes and light traveling cloak wrapped about my shoulders. The moon and stars are twinkling brightly above me. It makes me feel like the heavens are laughing at me. The trees of the Forbidden Forest are swaying dangerously to my right and the castle is bearing down on me, ominously, from the left. Behind me, I can hear Hagrid playing something on that god-awful fiddle that he carved up back in first year. And finally, the ground below me is doing absolutely nothing. I wish it'd just swallow me whole. I am completely surrounded. But I am allowed to brood right? That's one of the perks of being the savior of the world; all the introspection I can stand. Well, quite frankly, I'm sick and fucking tired of the mind of one Harold James Potter. (Referring to myself in the third person is just another sure sign that I am slowly going insane.)

The only place I feel relatively cozy at is the Burrow. I think I am in love with that place. Everything about it is endearing. I love Mrs. Weasley's magical kitchen with all her cooking utensils flying around; the meandering brooks near the back of the property; the Quidditch paddock where I beat Charlie's ass to the snitch during our last match; even Ron's nauseatingly orange room.

I am officially a Weasley now. After all the shit that happened over the summer - Sirius, then the Dursleys, and finally Remus - they were waiting with open arms. Who am I to argue with that? They really want me...for me. I don't know why they do, but I won't begrudge them their wish. Ten years of being told that you are worthless really grates on a guy's self-esteem. I just don't think I deserve that much love.

Oh, there's the Giant Squid. I swear that thing knows about everything that goes on around here. Ever since I got back it's never failed to show itself to me. I am kind of getting sick of it. Why? I am getting sick of it because of the pity. Now that is something I have had in spades for the longest time.

I have really got to stop doing this. Tonks once told me that internal debate is a lot like alcohol; great in moderation, but it should never be abused. So, what did I come out here to do? Oh yeah! That's right. I have got to decide whether or not to accept Dumbledore's offer.

I know how to defeat Voldemort.

That just sounds alien to me. Let me think that thought again. I know how to defeat Voldemort. It was Sirius that showed me how.

_**Flashback**_

(Six months ago)

_Ah hell! I'm having dreams about Sirius and that goddamn veil again. There he goes, arching backwards, but instead of the look of surprise I witnessed just weeks ago my own subconscious makes him look accusatory. What the hell is wrong with me!  
_  
(I was so busy beating myself up that I didn't see him poke his head back through the veil.)

"_Harry..." _

_"Hold on a second Sirius, I am not quite done berating myself yet. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"_

_"Harry..."_

_"Sirius, I thought I asked you to shut up. I am still wrestling with my demons here. I mean god, can't you be pat...Sirius!"_

_Holly hell, this is new. I mean he has never talked to me, and he most definitely never laughed at me before. I must be going crazy!_

_"You're not going crazy Harry. It's me, Sirius, in the flesh. Well...not really. I'm more ethereal if want to be all technical."_

_OK. I have had about enough; I want to wake up now._

_"No Harry, you don't want to wake up. You need to hear this and I am using my only trip back to tell it to you."_

_"Wait, only trip back. What do you mean?"_

_"Well, when you get murdered your life is taken aware from you by means that aren't of your own volition. This implies that things are left undone, and wizards and witches that don't become ghosts get one shot to visit the living to complete a task. Your mother and father asked me to do this so they wouldn't waste their trip."_

_I can't believe they don't want to see me._

_"Don't think that Harry! I am here to train you, and they don't want to have to worry about doing that with what little precious time that they'll have. All they want to do is to spend that night, before the final battle, with you as a family. They don't want to have to do anything but try and cram all the love that they have for you into twelve hours. Would you want to train during that time?_

_I guess he has got a point._

_"Of course I have a point!"_

_"Could you stop reading my mind?"_

_"It is kind of difficult when I am in here Harry."_

_Immature prick!_

_"What was that Harry?"_

_"Nothing...and stop smirking at me!"_

_"Whatever you say Wonder Boy!"_

_"Don't call me any of your mother's pet names Sirius."_

_"Now that was a good one!" _

_(For a moment it was if the Department of Mysteries never happened, so I rushed forward and wrapped him in the biggest hug I could.)_

_"I missed you old man." _

_"I really missed you too Harry. Now... how about I show you this charm that your mother built for you works?"_

_"All right, let's get to work on it then."_

_"There isn't really all that much for you to do Harry, the protection charm your mother placed on you as an infant has been, and will be, the key to ending this war. There are two ways to utilize it and I know you'll just jump on the first one. 'All you need is love.' The love of a woman can be one of the greatest motivators in the world. It has the ability to simultaneously inspire poetry and insight war. Have you ever heard of Helen of Troy? Just find her Harry; find that one person in all of existence that is most important to you. If you can do that, then whatever it is that is inside of you, whatever it is that is locked behind this door in the Department of Mysteries, will be unleashed on Voldemort. You would be more than enough of a match for him."_

(Even thinking about it now, I laugh at the reaction on Sirius's face when I asked him about the second option.)

_"But Harry, the first one would be much easier to accomplish; so simple, so cut-and-dry. Are you worried about not being able to find someone who will love you in that way? If you are, then I know a certain brown-eyed girl who would return those feelings in an instant."  
_  
(Most of the time when a young man is confronted with the information that someone has found out about the girl that they hold a flame for, they stutter and blush; do all sorts of things that make them look foolish. I did no such thing. I looked right into Sirius's ethereal eyes and told him exactly why I wanted to hear the second option.)

_"Sirius, you know why I won't do it. I was molded with too much selflessness and not enough selfishness to put Hermione in that kind of danger. Hell, she is already in too much as it is being a muggleborn and my best friend." _

_"But Harry, you don't understand. Your parents went through the same thing and they chose love over danger."_

_"Sirius, I have said this before and I'll say it again: I am not my parents. And in reality they were not in as much danger as I am in." _

_(At the time I couldn't believe that I had said it, and it looked as if Sirius didn't either. His look of shock quickly turned into a look of anger so great that I was afraid that he would have physically assaulted me...if he could have.)_

_"Sirius, this is in no way disrespect to my parents! They cared for me so much that they sacrificed a life of love that they had built for over a decade. I am so grateful of that decision that I can't even bring myself to put it into words. But the sad fact is that they didn't have to. Riddle was after me, not them, and by choosing me Voldemort cemented the prophecy. I have run that damned fortune cookie through my head a thousand times and I have come to the conclusion that we both should've died that night. But my parents gave their lives so that I, someone who didn't deserve it, could have the chance to live. That means more to me that anyone could ever know. _

_And besides, I know that I love Hermione, but I also know that she doesn't love me...not in that way at least. It could take years, knowing her, for Hermione to develop those kinds of romantic feelings for me. Those are years that the light side just doesn't have the fortune to wait. You know, and I know, that we would keep whatever relationship we might have a secret, and that secret, in and of itself, would probably tear us apart. And it is also a very big if that Hermione could ever love me like that anyway._

_Above all else, I don't want to hurt Ron, my brother, like that. He loves her, as I do. I can really see them being happy together and safe together. I would never get in the way of that, no matter how glorious being with Hermione could be._

_If there is a second option that allows for everyone to be happy and leaves the responsibility up to me, then I am all for that one. So I ask again: tell me what I have to do Sirius." _

_(Sirius looked as if he wanted to strangle me, yell at me, and cry for me all at the same time.)_

_"Damn you Harry! Goddamn you and the life that you have always chosen to lead," he says to me as a ghostly tear trickles down his face. _

_"So be it Sirius, but you aren't going to change my mind about this."_

_End of Flashback_

And so, Sirius told me. I could use all the love that I already posses - friendship, family, etc. - and channel it into my wand. I could then use said wand as a key and open up that locked door in the Department of Mysteries. After that, I would have to force Voldemort inside and seal the door. This would rid the world of his presence forever. But to physically force Tommy into doing something he wouldn't want to do, I would have to train and unlock the rest of my magical abilities.

To tell the truth, I was mortified as Dumbledore displayed for me the arithmetic equation that represented my abilities. It was, for lack of a better word, astronomical. You see, not only am I housing my own magical well of power, but also Riddle's and what my mother had to bind to me to protect me.

The only problem with unlocking my potential is that Voldemort will just follow me up the ladder of magical transformation, and become just as powerful. I asked why, and the old headmaster told me that I already knew why. Just as Tommy gave me everything that he was on that cold October night fourteen and a half years ago, I gave him everything I could be when he used my blood to resurrect himself after the Triwizard Tournament. If I were to discover the secret, than, because of our connection, he would too.

So, of course, I am going to accept Dumbledore's offer. He tells me it would only take me about three years. That, however, was too long for my liking so I stipulated that should I accept I would need a Time Turner. I could turn the next year and a half into three and be done with it before graduation...if I make it that long.

In my musings, my feet have carried me all the way up to the seventh floor. I pass from one end of the corridor to the other, out of habit, and a handle appears before me as I make the third pass. I open the door, wondering just what the Room of Requirement might offer my crowded mind. I smile inwardly at the sight in front of me. It seems as if this old castle knows, just as Tonks did, that moderation is the key when someone is tormenting his or herself. I guess I need to forget for a while and the Room of Requirement has provided. There are only two things in the room, a baby grand piano and an acoustic guitar.

I have become quite good at both instruments over the past six months. I don't know how, but I would like to think that it's in my blood. However, it's probably just because I have spent every waking moment outside of my studies, and Quidditch, playing the damn things. I sit down and run my hands over the ebony and ivory keys of the piano, but a sense of melancholy settles within my heart. If it weren't for Remus' passing, I'd have probably never started to play.

After Remus died I didn't have any guardians, magical or otherwise, left in the world. I became an emancipated minor and all of the material belongings guaranteed to me by the wills of said guardians instantly transferred to me. To put it very, very mildly I was absolutely astounded by the worth of the Black and Potter houses. It took me days to sift through everything at Gringotts. I discovered the deeds to properties all over the world, hundreds of thousands of galleons, stock in companies (both muggle and wizard) that spanned the globe, a piece of parchment that looked like a contract binding a troupe of house elves to me, piles of dark objects, and all kinds of expensive jewelry. But the most important things I found were the muggle musical effects that my mother had kept; pianos, guitars, drums, violins, turn tables, records and the like were scattered haphazardly throughout my parent's vault. I instantly fell in love with the artists behind the albums that she had kept; the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton (with and without Cream), Simon and Garfunkel, and many, many more. If you could name an artist from the '60s and '70s worth a shit, then my parents had owned something that they had done. In the end I decided to liquidate all the property except for Godric's Hollow and the Order's headquarters, give all the dark objects to Dumbledore to be done away with, placed all the money and jewelry I had been given in one vault, and I put everything of sentimental value in another. As for the music, I bought one of those trunks with the seven compartments that Moody had and deposited it all inside. That I would take with me. When one of the goblins asked me about security and the like, I told them that I trusted their judgment and gave them free reign. This brought about a much unexpected reaction.

In offering the goblins of Gringotts my complete trust in any decision that they could make on their biggest account in the entire world, I had done something no other wizard had done in a very, very long time. Not even Dumbledore, in his infinite knowledge and respect for all beings, ever completely trusted the goblins. I would come to find out later that this was because Grindewald was half-goblin, and Albus had been wounded far too thoroughly to totally forgive and forget. Even though the employees of the bank understood Albus' position, it upset them all the same. Having the most powerful and influential wizard consider you untrustworthy, coupled with the Goblin Wars, gave the entire wizarding populace a free ticket to disregard you. When I gave them my permission to do as they wished I actually witnessed a few genuine smiles.

Imagine that...a goblin smiling. They actually looked kind of warm with smiles on their faces. It reminded me of Dobby, and that brought a grin to my face. I used my new found position with the goblins to tell them how much more inviting they looked when they smiled and I was told that the muscles of the face have to work harder to frown and scowl and that was what goblins were all about. Work! Work! Work! It was a joke, a goblin joke, and I laughed loudly at the time. Remus once told me that I have an easy since of humor, it's just that my disposition scares most people away. The only ones who aren't afraid to joke with me are Fred and George, who have yet to catch me in a prank (but not for lack of trying), and keep me laughing by catching other people.

My mind wanders in the dark for a little while longer and I still haven't played my first note. My thoughts settle on what they always do when I am not thinking about what lies behind and what lies ahead...Hermione. I can never really put what she's like or what she does to me into words, but I can do it in song. My hands start to move of their own volition, and they start to play the first few chords of a song I instantly recognize. I have really come to love this song. It's by Billy Joel and it's from the "Songs in the Attic" album. It was probably one of the last records that they ever bought, and I can just imagine my dad singing this song to my mum...at least I hope he did.

I play a few more chords of the song and start to sing. Ginny is the only one I have ever shown my musical talents to and she told me that it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever heard. I think she cried the first time I played for her.

_**"She's got a way about her**_

_**I don't know what it is**_

_**But I know that I can't live without her**_

_**She's got a way of pleasin'**_

_**I don't know what it is**_

_**But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway**_

_**She's got a smile that heals me**_

_**I don't know why it is**_

_**But I have to laugh when she reveals me**_

_**She's got a way of talkin'**_

_**I don't know why it is**_

_**But it lifts me up when we are walkin' anywhere**_

_**She comes to me when I'm feelin' down**_

_**Inspires me without a sound**_

_**She touches me and I get turned around**_

_**She's got a way of showin'**_

_**How I make her feel**_

_**And I find the strength to keep on goin'**_

_**She's got a light around her**_

_**And everywhere she goes**_

_**A million dreams of love surround her everywhere**_

_**She comes to me when I'm feelin' down**_

_**Inspires me without a sound**_

_**She touches me and I get turned around**_

_**She's got a smile that heals me**_

_**I don't know why it is**_

_**But I have to laugh when she reveals me**_

_**She's got a way about her**_

_**I don't know what it is**_

_**But I know that I can't live without her anyway."**_

I alternate between the guitar and piano for a good hour and a half. I'm trying, but failing, to clear my head. I guess a good night's sleep is the only medicine for my situation. Dumbledore told me to sleep on it anyway. Although, when he had told me, he probably didn't expect to have to wait two months. I know that I am going to do it, but I just want to spend one final Christmas with everyone before Dumbledore locks me away in some far off corner of the school for a year and a half.

Before I realize it, I am in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady guarding Gryffindor Tower. I have gotten to know our protector over the past couple of months and I no longer call her the Fat Lady. I hate being disrespectful, especially to people I am acquainted with, so I just call her Lady. She doesn't seem to care either way and lets me call her Lady simply because her other title bothers me. Now that is the kind of consideration I appreciate! I give her the password ("Trevor") and step inside.

The first thing that my mind registers is the quiet of the common room, however, that doesn't really bug me all that much. It would if it were the middle of the term but it's the holidays, and the only people here are me, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and a couple of first years I have yet to meet.

I trod up the stairs as quietly as I can, hoping not to bother anyone that has already succumbed to the loving embrace of Morpheus, and I am suddenly attacked by an extreme case of apprehension. Now any other kid in this school probably wouldn't care. They would think, 'Hogwarts is the safest place in the world and there is nothing for me to worry about.' I, however, know different. So, I take out my wand and move even more quietly up the stairs...just to be cautious.

But all of my apprehension soon changes into trepidation and, dare I say it, fear. I have never felt afraid this early in the game. Now if I walked into my room and Voldemort was inside I'd be afraid, as it turns out I am halfway there, and I'm trembling! My body just does not want to complete this journey, but I am a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors laugh in the face of danger. _(Famous last words)_

Ever so slowly, I ease open the door to my dormitory and breathe a silent sigh of relief. Even though there is something amiss in this room, it isn't the diabolical situation my mind had conjured it up to be. I can only find one problem with this scene...it's happening in my bed, and I am not one of the participants. I mean come on Ron, I know my bed is the closest to the door but were you really that anxious to shag whomever it is you are shagging.

I'm actually a little angry right now, but suddenly I smile mischievously as I think of a proper way to punish the git. I would never disrupt him in the middle of a fuck, but said fuck is occurring in my bed, and therefore, based on the Maraurder code of honor, I get to thoroughly tease him for the rest of his natural born life. All I need is the identity of the person he is sleeping with.

I had a feeling that this would be the year that Ron became a sexual being here at Hogwarts. And, as I think back on it, I would say it began around Halloween. He thought he was so slick, stealing my map and my invisibility cloak for his late night tryst. He, and whomever he was with, even used the damn thing one time; I still can't get the smell out. I think I have way too much time on my hands if I can pinpoint, with some certainty, the night my best friend lost his virginity. 'What the hell,' I think with a shrug. My sex life is non-existence and if I have to live vicariously through my best mate, then so be it!

I follow the trail of clothes that lead to my bed and I can practically imagine the scene. They enter the room, kissing passionately, (probably up against the door) and the first things to go are the robes. They are lying at my feet right now. I imagine Ron and his mystery date tangled up and stumbling across the dormitory. I see a discarded jumper and bra while I stifle a laugh. A few buttons have been ripped off of Ron's mutilated shirt; I guess she was just as impatient as he was. The last things I notice are a pair of pants and a skirt. I assume the rest of the clothes are in there with them, for I am at the hangings that keep the identities of the lovers a secret from me and I can't find any more garments.

I raise my hands to peel back the curtains, but I still my digits as my four-poster starts to sway more violently. I am taken aback when I hear some very muffled sounds. She must be one helluva screamer if I can hear her, even faintly, through a silencing charm. I raise one of my hands to pull apart the hangings for just the tiniest of peeks.

I think my soul just shattered.

It's falling apart because there, before me, is a sight that I had thought I was ready for. Ever since I had admitted to Sirius that I had seen the possibility that they could happen, I had mentally prepared myself for catching them in this kind of act. Who the fuck did I think I was kidding!

I am trying to back up and shuffle out the door, but I know I am moving at a snail's pace. I just can't stop watching! Oh great! They are changing positions. Aren't I just the luckiest of voyeurs in the whole wide world?

It is starting to hurt. I mean physically, it is starting to get fucking heart wrenching. He is slamming into her with such force that I am surprised that he hasn't broken her yet. Hell, it's probably hurting me more than it is hurting her. What the fuck do I know? Of course it pains me more...I can see it on her face that she loves it. Every thrust feels like he is stabbing me in the heart with Sirius's old knife, and every muffled scream feels like someone is taking a seven inch nail and hammering it into my ear. I just can't do anything but slowly try to pad my way out of the room.

However, the sight before me is so morbidly hypnotizing that I totally forget about the geography of the room. I totally forget that I am moving away from my intended target. I totally forget that I am about to back right into the easel and sketches that Dean Thomas left on our dorm room coffee table. And as their combined orgasm hits, I fall right through said table. With a loud crash that breaks everyone out of his or her respective trances, mine being a lot less satisfying then the ones that my 'friends' are enjoying, a pair of brown eyes and a pair of blue eyes lock with my own pair of green eyes...everything goes to hell.

I pick my dejected body off the floor, cast one last morose glance at Ron and Hermione, and stumble out of the room. I run down the boys' staircase, take the last six or seven steps at a dive, and tumble all the way to the portrait hole. I push on the tapestry but it is unmoving. I scream for the Lady to open up and let me out, but she won't. She turns around in here tapestry and tells me that the three of us have to work this out. I acquiesce to her request because I know how important their love is to me, how important it is to us all.

I rush to the hearth over the fireplace and put my head in my hands. I absentmindedly run my fingers along the Lily & James wood carving to my right. My sobs are calming down when I hear one of the floorboards creak. I instantly know that it is Hermione and I instantly know she is alone. The floor would have made a much louder noise under her and Ron's combined weight.

She touches my shoulder, my head still in my hands, and I shy away. She asks, pleads with me, to look at her. And I do. It is her turn to flinch away from me.

"Oh God Harry! What have I done to you?" Hermione asks me with an air of total disbelief that a guy catching two of his best friends making love could cause him that much pain. She's smarter than that. She knows exactly why I feel this way; she is just trying to deny it. More importantly, she knows that I know that, but I'll play her little game.

"I don't know Hermione? You always thought that you knew me, the real me, better than anyone else. I also remember you telling me, while I was grieving for Sirius and Remus, that my eyes were the windows to my soul. Why don't you look into my eyes, look real fuckin' deep, and tell me exactly why...what you two did...hurt me...so much?"

And she did, she really looked into my eyes and probably my soul. However, she couldn't hold my gaze for very long because she saw my love for her...and she had seen how they had broken my heart.

**A/N:** Sorry to all those H/T shippers from DOR. I'll try to get it back on as soon as possible, but, in the meantime, why don't you give this one a look through. The H/Hr/R triangle is how I think the canon will go (she will be with Ron while Harry's love is unrequited...for a time) so this is as real as it gets for me. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own a thing, and it would be pointless to sue. This time around it's "Say Goodbye" from the Dave Matthews Band.

**Chapter 2: Ron's POV**

Everything about that woman has me completely entranced. Her shape is perfect, her smell is intoxicating as hell, and even the way she argues with me turns me on to no end. I am absolutely, positively, head-over-heels in lo...lust with Hermione Jane Granger. And to be dangerously honest, it is actually getting very distracting.

I can't concentrate, and you can use this morning as an example. I was sitting alone at the breakfast table starring, infatuated even, at my spoon. No, no it is not what you think. I am in no way, shape, or form having any sexual fantasies about silverware, but I couldn't believe how well the spoon imitated Hermione's figure. The curve of her breasts, the flare of her hips, it was all there in that damnable utensil. I just had to have her.

The rest of the day I set to planning. I canceled the quidditch session I was going to have with Harry and asked the house-elves of the kitchen to help me with a romantic dinner for a friend and me. I all too readily noticed that Winky and Dobby really didn't want to have anything to do with me. Both Hermione and I have recognized how cold those two have been towards us in the past few months. Hermione actually asked Dobby about it one day when I was in the common room with Harry. She came running into the tower, tears raining from her eyes, screaming something about a hateful remark. After calming her down personally and learning that it was Dobby that had said whatever it was that had caused her outburst, I confronted the little elf. Dobby drew himself up to his full height, which frightened me even though I was still towering over him by nearly a meter and a half, and said in a chillingly cold voice, "Harry Potter's Wheezy is going behind Master Harry's back with the good sir's miss. If Wheezy was as good a friend as Dobby knows Wheezy is, he would be honest with Harry Potter. Master deserves your honesty in the very least."

His words stung, and I completely understood why it hurt Hermione so. After everything she had done for house-elves, Dobby, her advocate, had turned his back on her and called her a terrible friend. Maybe we had been horrible friends? Had we? I just don't know, but I do know that we have finally decided to tell Harry. We just haven't yet. We were going to tell him, we really were, but the winter holidays crept up on us all. Once Hermione and I saw how empty the school was going to be, we decided to wait. No reason to waste a couple of weeks of freedom with the awkwardness that this could cause.

The other elves are much more helpful. They handed me a basket full of not just wonderful food, but supplies as well. They packed me things like scented candles and flowers. They really are helpful little buggers.

I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing the common room and setting things up for our date. I wanted to use the Room of Requirement first but once the corridor realized I was trying to manipulate the room into a romantic setting, I was rather forcibly removed from the Seventh floor. I ended up in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, much to my displeasure, so the common room it is.

I left Hermione a flirtatious note that told her to dress appropriately for a date and meet me downstairs at midnight. With some advanced spell work that I didn't even think I was capable of, I charmed away any evidence of my preparations. I got dressed in my most dashing dress robes, and set off to walk the castle.

I am approaching the Seventh floor again and I laugh lightly to myself. Hermione and I have been together for over half a year now and we have been having sex for almost three months, but this, however, will be our very first date. I guess romance is a little out of my character, but I can try, damnit! Hermione always said I had the emotional range of a teaspoon. I hope I can prove her wrong tonight.

I am back at the Room of Requirement, and I scowl deeply. Damn room. Thinks it can push me around. Well it's got another thing coming if it believes it can keep me from...Wait, what's that sound? It's really strange. It is kind of stringy. But, that voice! It sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't match it with any of the people I know. I place my ear to the door and strain to hear the words coming from the soulful singer on the other side.

"_**So here we are tonight,**_

_**You and me together**_

_**The storm outside, the fire is bright**_

_**And in your eyes I see what's on my mind**_

_**You've got me wild**_

_**Turned around inside**_

_**And then desire, see is creeping up heavy**_

_**Inside here**_

**_And know you feel_** **_the same way I do know_**

_**Now let's make this an evening**_

_**Lovers for a night**_

_**Lovers for tonight**_

_**Stay here with me, love, tonight**_

_**Just for an evening**_

_**When we make our passion pictures**_

_**You and me twist up secret creatures**_

_**And we'll stay here**_

_**Tomorrow go back to being friends**_

_**Go back to being friends**_

_**But tonight let's be lovers,**_

_**We kiss and sweat**_

_**We'll turn this better thing to the best of all we can offer**_

_**Just a rogue kiss**_

_**Tangled tongues and lips**_

_**See me this way I'm turning and turning for you**_

_**Girl, just tonight**_

_**Float away here with me**_

_**An evening just wait and see**_

_**But tomorrow go back to your man**_

_**I'm back to my world**_

_**And we're back to being friends**_

_**Wait and see me,**_

_**Tonight let's do this thing**_

_**All we are is wasting hours**_

_**Until the sun comes up**_

_**It's all ours**_

_**On our way here**_

_**Tomorrow go back to being friends**_

_**Go back to being friends**_

_**Go back to being friends**_

_**Tonight let's be lovers,**_

_**Say you will**_

_**And hear me call,**_

_**Soft-spoken**_

_**Whispering love**_

_**Whispering love**_

_**A thing or two I have to say here**_

_**Tonight let's go all the way then**_

_**Love I'll see you,**_

_**Just for this evening**_

_**Let's strip down,**_

_**Trip out at this**_

_**One evening starts with a kiss**_

_**Run away**_

_**And tomorrow back to being friends**_

_**Lovers...love...lovers**_

_**Just for tonight, one night...love you**_

_**And tomorrow say goodbye."**_

For a moment there is nothing but silence. Then it sounds as if the person behind the door is switching instruments and letting into another ballad. Maybe it will be more upbeat. Perhaps, though, it will be dreadful and slow, painful and powerful. No matter what it is, I have to get away from this floor.

I have to get as far away from this particular spot as soon as possible. The words to that song should be soothing to me. They mirror the current situation I am in perfectly. Granted, the relationship that Hermione and I are in is stronger than a drunken fling - it's the seemingly natural progression of our kind of platonic friendship - but still, something has me spooked.

"**_Tomorrow go back to your man."_** Despite my obsession with Quidditch, I am not some dumb jock. The fact that I can play chess as well as I do, not to mention some of the better grades that I get, is a testament to that. I have always known, and maybe it has helped to fuel my insecurities to the point that it took a near-death experience to confess my feelings for her, that Hermione isn't really meant to be with me. It has forever been there, on some level, that she is Harry's girl. Hell maybe Dobby was right. I am shagging 'Harry Potter's Miss' behind his back.

Whether or not it's true, I start to feel guilty. It's almost like I am taking something that doesn't belong to me. I am cheating someone, who is far more deserving, out of true happiness. It's absurd! Hermione was never with Harry; therefore, I shouldn't feel bad about it.

It is true, though, that there is no one more deserving of real happiness than Harry. The things he has had to endure since June would have been enough to destroy a normal man. Harry, however, isn't a normal man, and he never does anything half-ass. What's three months of hell, when the last fifteen years of your life has been a continuous loop of pure shit? Dumbledore gave us an abbreviated version of the events of my mate's summer after Harry first arrived at the Burrow, battered and bleeding with a dead Remus and Tonks on his shoulders, at the beginning of August. But I still wonder what really happened to Harry at Number 4 Pivet Drive. And I am dying to know what took place at Order HQ.

(**A/N:** I wonder what I am going to write about next. What really happened, duh! This will not be from Ron's POV, but regular third person.)

_Voldemort didn't even give Harry enough time to put his trunk down before the second act of his sadistic opera started in earnest. Tom Marvolo Riddle is by no means a stupid man, if he can still be called a man. In fact, most would say that his intellect is only surpassed by one other wizard in the entire world, and that would be non other than Albus Dumbledore. Voldemort had been prepared for the failure of his beloved Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries so he decided a back-up plan was most definitely the order of the day._

_The 'Plan' would consist of four parts. Part one would involve increased surveillance of Order movements at Pivet Drive. Two, discern the day that security on the street was at its most vulnerable (this just so happened to coincide with Harry's return to Number 4). Step three, kill the boy's guard (including Mrs. Figg), and order the attack that would be launched by muggle gang members (despite Voldemort's pride and arrogance, the ends would justify the means). And finally, wait until their torture weakened the wards to the point that Voldemort could finish the family off, personally._

_The 'Plan' went off without a hitch. The ruthless gang entered the Dursley's residence, weary of alerting the inhabitants of Pivet Drive, and proceeded to murder both Vernon and Dudley with cold-blooded efficiency. The anguish that would fall upon Harry and Petunia would turn the stomach of Albus Dumbledore when witnessed through the boy's memories of it. Surprisingly though, the matron of the Dursley domicile and its most detested tenet would share an amazingly soft moment before her death._

_It had been almost two hours since the whole fiasco had started, and both Harry and Petunia had been beaten so badly that they barely resembled who they had been at the beginning of the day. Just as they were finishing, Harry turned to look at his aunt. He could see the life pulling away from her body. Harry picked up his prone form and crawled his way to his mother's sister. After a few minutes of attempting to comfort the women he would receive the shock of his life. Petunia Dursley was actually smiling fondly upon the boy that had always been considered the bane of her existence._

_His aunt would surprise him even further with the quiet calm she attempted to add to her voice as she spoke, "Harry, despite the care that I have shown you it seems as if you still loved me enough to try and take care of me in my final hour."_

"_You're blood and that is all that matters to me, besides all of this is my fault," he answered back just as softly._

"_This isn't your fault Harry. It has never been your fault. My greatest mistake was allowing myself and my family to treat you in such a way that you would come to blame yourself for such things. I have seen my life pass before my eyes and I have seen the error of my ways, but I won't insult you by apologizing. The only thing that I can ask of you is to forgive Dudley because he didn't know any better."_

"_Of course, I forgive all of you," Harry sobbed with tears rolling down his face. "In a weird way your treatment has made me a better person. My friends tell me I am incredibly humble, despite my titles." Harry made a poor attempt at a joke and gave his aunt a watery smile._

"_You are a precious boy. I am sorry that I never told you that I loved you, or even came close to showing it to you."_

_Harry used his index and middle finger to close her eyelids as he placed the lightest of kisses on her forehead. As he pulled her closer, trying in vain to give her some kind of protection in death, he whispered, "I love you too. Sleep now." And sleep she did...forever._

_Harry had held up pretty well considering, but as his aunt took her last shuddering gulp of air, he cried. Harry cried, once again, for the childhood he never got to live. The woman he was holding in his arms could have very well been his mum, but it would never be. And for that, Harry cried. Voldemort, who was waltzing through the front door after just crossing the wards that protected Number 4, had taken from Harry again, so Harry cried. And as he mourned for a newfound, but lost love, a white light emanated from his body. The light incinerated the muggle gang, just as it would have Voldemort had he not apparated away._

_This was how Professor Dumbledore found Harry, tightly embracing his aunt, drowning in his own tears, just a little over an hour later._

_There is no rest for the weary, and especially no rest for Harry Potter. The very next day he was busy healing in Sirus's bed at Grimauld Place. Harry would spend a little over a month at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, throwing himself into the only work afforded to him...renovating the dark and dingy mansion and devouring all the magical information in sight. The work kept his mind off of the stink of death that seemed to surround him everywhere he went. And despite his awful mood, both the house and his magical abilities vastly improved._

_Harry's guardians for his tenure at Number 12 were Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. They both tried sincerely to get Harry to open up, and after a few days he did, even if it was just because he was just too tired to keep them out. Harry had pulled both of his minders extremely close to his heart, closer than anyone else had ever been before, save for a few. So that's why the day that Voldemort decided to make his second move of the summer against Harry, Riddle was soundly defeated._

_Voldemort had launched a dual attack. One of the assaults was led by what was left of his inner circle against Azkaban. This, of course, drew the attention of just about the entire wizarding world of Britain, and the battle was brutal. Meanwhile, Voldemort and Harry were having a war of their own at Number 12. The evil bastard had surprised Remus and Tonks in bed and slaughtered them mercilessly with Harry as a witness. Something inside of him had snapped at that moment, and the two of them dueled fiercely. Harry was doing things that day that no teen wizard should have been capable of doing. Voldemort soon realized that the only way for him to win was to somehow work apparation, a skill Harry had no experience with, into the conflict. This was an incredibly bad idea however, because Riddle was unintentionally teaching 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' how to apparate by displaying his magical signature to Harry's exponentially enflamed senses. Soon, both of them were bouncing all over Britain attempting to engage one another. Eventually, Voldemort escaped and Harry was forced to return to Number 12 a broken mess._

_When he got back he hefted both Tonks and Remus, with strength supported by his magically enhanced abilities, onto his shoulders and concentrated on the Burrow. The only problem was that the wards around the Weasley's ancestral home protected against unidentified apparation, so Harry was forced to redirect their destination to Stoatshead hill (the place from which he and the Weasley's had traveled to the Quidditch World Cup)._

_After arriving, Harry quickly decided that traveling through Ottery St. Catchpole would attract too much attention. The long way around, through the woods, would have to do. This, however, took days, not because of the distance, but because of what he was carrying. Harry simply refused to leave the bodies of his dead friends behind, a habit he had formed after carrying Cedric's limp form from the graveyard in fourth year, and he also refused to drag them. Remus and Tonks deserved more respect than that. Harry's determination fueled his magical strength, but he was only able to maintain for short periods of time._

_Two days later, starved and tired, Harry came upon the trail that would lead him to the front door of the Burrow. And in the early morning hours, he laid Remus down gently on the porch, and knocked on the door._

_Molly Weasley was sitting at her kitchen table, nursing a cup of tea, and gazing sadly upon various pictures of her surrogate son, Harry Potter. He was, unofficially, the seventh son of a seventh son and he was missing. Molly was crying, in fact she had been crying for what seemed like forever. In reality it had only been about three days, but it had been three days too many for mother Weasley._

_She had collected a great number of pictures of all of her babies over the years, as any good mother would do. And right now, Molly had her complete collection of her all-but-adopted son's photos laid out on the table. Harry in the newspaper, copies from Colin Creevy's camera, ones that she had taken herself when Harry was staying at the Burrow during his second and fourth years, Hogwarts pictures, Ginny and Hermione's pictures, all of them were sitting out in front of Mrs. Weasley as she prayed for him to return safely._

_But that, in and of itself, was another situation entirely. When Harry returned, how was she supposed to treat him? Coddle him? Mother him? Was space the way to go? She had raised seven children of her own, but none of them had ever come close to experiencing the things that Harry had. Well, all of them except for Ginny of course. Molly had learned that last year Harry had been rather explosive when he was approached. Maybe she should just tread lightly...go with what she had done with her other boys...give Harry his space. Maybe...just maybe..._

_Mrs. Weasley's train of thought had been interrupted by a soft knock at the door. 'It must be Albus with some news. He is the only other person in the world that would be up at this early hour.' Molly walked very slowly to the door and opened it quietly. "Hello Alb..."_

_This person was most certainly not Albus Dumbledore. In front of her, was her estranged pseudo-son, Harry Potter. He was carrying something, something that looked morbidly familiar, something that Molly did not want to have to deal with right now, and he looked as if he had been to hell and back. It was the story of his life._

"_I am sorry...that...I wasn't strong enough...to save them Mrs. Weasley." He barely managed to string the sentence together as he suffered under his own exhaustion and his charge's weight._

_Morosely, Molly gazed upon the pink hair that sat atop the head of whatever, or...whomever, Harry was carrying. She peaked to the right side of the porch and the air left her lungs. They had lost Remus Lupin too. As she looked at Harry's face, fatigued and battered from his battle with the Dark Lord and the two day hike to the Burrow, her love for the boy seem to increase a thousand times as hundreds of thoughts floated through her mind. Three stood out amongst the rest._

_1) I have had to see him like this too many times._

_2) How can he continue?_

_3) A true hero._

_And before anything else could be said between the two, Harry finally submitted to defeat._

(**A/N:** Let's get back to the present shall we.)

My mother had nursed Harry back to health in the following week, but his work was not yet done. Voldemort would launch one final attack through...through. No! Not right now! I will not think about that tonight. There's the portrait of the Fat Lady anyway.

I mutter the password ("Trevor") and stroll casually through the opening. And then I see her. I am in desperate need of a chair. I don't think my legs will hold out much longer. Hermione was absolutely breathtaking. I guess she had decided to go all out when I left her that note to dress smartly for tonight. The frills, the lace, reds, gold...I am at a loss to accurately describe what she is wearing because I am a man. Usually men have no idea about cuts, and slits, pins, and clasps. In situations like these, we just now that whatever it is that our women are wearing makes them look damn good. And most of the time whatever we had planned goes out the window. Check please! Taxi! Your apartment or mine? Dates can be highly overrated. I should just take her upstairs and...No! I had promised her a nice night and a nice night was what she was going to get.

I don't know exactly what it was that possessed me. As the night wore on, I was startled to realize that I was being charming, suave, and a real gentleman. I took extra care in helping her to her seat, lavished her with my undivided attention, treated each and every conversation that we had in between bites as if I was genuinely and sincerely interested. Moreover, I came to acknowledge that I actually was. Not that I never hear Hermione, it is just that I don't always listen to her. I think I was surprising myself just as much as I was her.

We finished the last course of the evening, a pumpkin pie that didn't exactly sit very well with me, and I looked into my girl's eyes. I love that look. Most of the times I am looking at her that way because I am a male and that is how we stare at women when we think no one's watching. She wants me. If I didn't have full control over my bodily functions, I would stand up on top of the table and do a victory dance. I made Hermione want me.

Well...I guess I should be honest. Hermione almost always wants me. I swear this girl is a nymphomaniac. I know that sounds like a tremendous cliché. The quiet bookworm, who spends all of her time in the library, can't get enough of it in bed. She usually wants it as much as I do and I lo...really like that about her.

I can't really describe how we left the table and started up the stairs. I can't describe how we got to the boys' dorm and slipped into bed. I really couldn't tell you which bed that we are in. There aren't any melodramatic details I could throw together to describe how her body fells against mine...feels around mine. I do know that it is hot, wet, fast, loud, and fun.

She's almost there. I can tell. This may sound kind of...crude, but when Hermione reaches climax she acts a little bit like a muggle lock. I mean...she has a specific combination, and as long as I have been trying it I don't think she has ever failed to get there. 24...36...24

CRASH!

My head whips around towards the corner of the room that the noise had come from. Oh fuck no...Harry. My mind has finally caught up, and actually outstripped my libido so that I am thinking clearly again. All of a sudden I am painfully aware of what is happening. I, Ronald Billius Weasley, just finished a magnificently satisfying shag, in my male best friend's bed, with our mutual female best friend. I think I just might have fucked up royally. I don't want to look at Harry; I can't look at Harry; I will not look at Harry; I have to look at Harry.

OH MY GOD, HIS FACE!

He looks so confused. It is almost as if every emotion any man could ever possibly feel is using Harry's face as a war zone. As each second goes by, he just gets darker and darker and darker. Hermione turns away. I guess she can't bear to see what he will look like when he finally decides what all of this means to him. I want to look away as well. This isn't going to end nicely. And...Oh god! It looks as if complete and total dejection, sprinkled lightly with heartbreak and just a hint of jealousy are the ingredients that are used to make the face of a friend that has been lied to and betrayed. As he turns away, I start to cry. It is quiet and it is masculine. That face will probably plague my nightmares for a long time coming.

(**A/N:** Next chapter we get to see what Ginny has to do with all of this.)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer - Don't own a damn thing, not HP and definitely not "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton.

**Chapter 3** **(Ginny's POV)**

What am I doing here? I mean really! What am I, Ginerva Molly Weasley, youngest and only daughter of the clan Weasley, doing sitting on the steps of the girls' dormitory watching my brother and his 'oh-so-oblivious' girlfriend finish was is probably their first real date? I really don't have any freakin' idea.

That's not exactly true. I know precisely why I'm here and it has everything to do with what everything else does, and that is Harry Potter. Everyone in the school, everyone save for Ron and Hermione, knows 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' is head-over-heels for the female piece of the 'Golden Trio'. Don't blame Harry; it's not as if he is being obvious. He is being far from it around them; it's only when you pay close attention to the times when he thinks no one else is watching that it becomes clear. The only problem is that being Harry Potter means that there is never a time when nobody is watching. So now everyone knows.

It's actually quite funny really, or at least it would be if I don't feel so sorry for them, but Ron and Hermione are playing the exact same game. The difference is they are not as good at keeping their relationship a secret; the rumor about them being together moved much faster through the hollowed halls of Hogwarts than most. But they are doing a particularly smashing job around Harry. They're the same three friends they have always been when they are all together. They laugh and joke and bicker (well, pretend to bicker so that Harry stays grounded) and when they walk down the halls, they flanking him like the loyal sidekicks that Ron and Hermione have always been considered to be.

It's when those two are alone that they can't help themselves. They aren't overly affectionate; the most substantial evidence against them comes from the gossip. When other Prefects claim that you're spending more time snogging and shagging then doing your jobs, people tend to listen.

No one dares tell Harry about it though. Actually Draco Malfoy tried to...one time. After all, he has never been one to think before he speaks in cases where Harry is concerned, has he? Earlier in the year, the blond cornered our hero about the rumors in an attempt to force Harry's hand. "Lost to the Weasel, did you Potty?" "Poor Potter can't have a taste of the Mudblood then?" Blah...blah, blah...blah, blah. Harry was taking most of the ribbing without batting an eyelash. I, however, could tell Harry was boiling under the surface, especially when it came to the insults hurled involving Hermione. Basically, the Slytherin was grasping at straws until he made a crack about Remus and Tonks. At that, Harry exploded. I mean he literally exploded…as did everything else in the Great Hall. Of course a magical release of that size would have registered on every magical monitor in the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore flew out of that room faster than a man his age should be able to, and he tried to intercede. However, by the time he got there Harry had already challenged Malfoy to a legitimate Wizards' Duel. Unlike the one that the two of them had tried to have in their first year, this one was legally binding. With Harry being an emancipated minor in both the muggle and magical world, Draco being head of Malfoy house due to his father's incarceration, and the audacity of Malfoy's words Albus had no choice but to sanction the match. If he had not the consequences would have cost the rivals their magicks. Dumbledore did make a few stipulations. The match would be held in secret and they had to choose seconds from different houses. Malfoy picked some random Ravenclaw upperclassmen, while Harry snatched up Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff. Supposedly it ended rather quickly. Harry, of course, emerged victorious and unscathed; the seconds were in awe of whatever display Harry had provided; and Malfoy was levitated to the Hospital Wing unconscious. After a couple of days the entire school was shocked to see a humbled Draco Malfoy enter the Great Hall. And this more than anything, Harry kicking Draco's ass into modesty, kept the gossip from reaching the Trio's ears.

And absolutely no one mentions Harry's summer around him anymore, except for me that is. Colin tried...poor boy. When he had asked, Harry glared so ruefully at the young fan that he actually received a physical blow to the forehead. Harry was very apologetic afterward, but the angry red welt warned everyone else not to ask. I'm the only one he talks to about it, and I'm the only one who is allowed to ask. Hermione is very jealous.

Speaking of Hermione, it seems as if the 'lovebirds' are heading up. Their hands and mouths look rather busy as well. I for one don't know where they get the energy. I am beat. Maybe if I just close my eyes for a second just to rest them...yeah...that's it...

_Dream Sequence_

(**A/N:** It would be very difficult for me to cover the entire sequence of events from a first person perspective. Therefore, I am going to write it from the third person, in Italics, and just call it a dream sequence.)

_It had been nearly a week since Harry had arrived at the Burrow and he had yet to wake up. Almost at once the Order had been informed of his condition and situation. There had been many visitors, the most important of which being Professor Dumbledore. Everyone was saddened to hear of the deaths of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, they had been awed at Harry's strength and determination against Voldemort, and all were brought to tears by the fact that he had refused to leave his guardians behind. For a time, the ancestral home of the Weasleys' was transformed into a pseudo-headquarters, and the orders were simple. The men and women that were more adept in combat were on guard duty, while the people more capable at healing stood constant vigil over the people injured in the Battle of Azkaban and Harry's bed. Unbeknownst to all, however, was that something terrible was happening to young Ginny Weasley almost every night._

_You see the affects of the Riddle diary on Ginny's mind were more far reaching than anyone expected. The sixteen year-old Voldemort had slithered his way into her subconscious without her consent. He had even doctored up a dream so traumatic, little Ginny would be scarred by it for the rest of her days. In this dream he had taken advantage of her to metaphorically represent what the diary was literally doing to her mind. That night had been the right before she had tried to dispose of the journal in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Since then, she had been subject to terrible nightmares. These nightmares started to change, though, after Voldemort's resurrection._

_Ever since Voldemort had been informed of Malfoy Sr.'s actions he had been exploring a possible connection between himself and the young woman. Fortunately for Riddle, and unfortunately for Ginny, a connection had been found and once again he was in a position to manipulate her dreams. This link was incredibly weak though, nothing like the one between Harry and the Dark Lord. It was so weak, in fact, that Ginny's basic mental defenses were more than enough to protect herself from the Dark Lord's flimsy assaults in the summer time. During her terms at school the ancient magicks of Hogwarts were more than up to the challenge of defending the young witch. In fact, the only time the correlation was strong enough for Voldemort to have any influence whatsoever was when Ginny was around those similarly affected. This included only two types of people: Death Eaters and Harry Potter._

_It started in the summer before fifth year. Voldemort had felt that Ginny and Harry were close and launched a few attacks. The anonymity of the Order Headquarters had kept Riddle from taking full control and the end result was a few violent night terrors that had Ginny's body convulsing during sleep. Harry's scar would twinge violently at these times. However, because he had yet to feel the full sting of a Voldemort possession he was never able to uncover the problem. Ginny herself never remembered any of these attacks due to Voldemort's superiority in Mind Magicks. The Burrow, being in full knowledge of almost the entire wizarding world, and with no real defenses of its own, was a prime target. And on a balmy night in the middle of July, Harry's final battle of the summer with Voldemort would take place for nearly all to see._

_It started a little after midnight. Seemingly out of nowhere the entire house was awoken by a blood-curdling scream coming from the youngest Weasley's room. Hermione, being in that same room at the time, alerted the whole house to Ginny's dilemma. Mrs. Weasley, followed closely by Albus Dumbledore and some of the more prominent members of the Order, rushed the young girl, still asleep, down into the open kitchen and onto the table. Ginny would continue to writhe and scream, for what seemed like forever, while Dumbledore and Pomfrey threw everything that they had at her to try and cure her ailments. Just as the possession was taking full affect, Harry's scar seared with pain._

_Harry, who at the time was still unconscious from his earlier struggles, bolted out of bed and down to the kitchen. He hadn't eaten solid foods for a while, and his body had been beaten to hell, so he was looking a little peaky. He had magical bandages wrapped around his abdomen, left bicep, and over a scar on the pectoral of the same side. He instantly recognized the situation and was just as quickly infuriated by it. Bringing his true power, or at least what he had achieved so far, to the fore he was able to clear a path straight to Ginny's thrashing body._

_With murder in his eyes, which immediately softened once he reached the table, Harry acted on pure instinct. He brought his lips down to rest over the young red heads. And, even though he had already promised his heart to another, he was able to summon enough affection and 'brotherly' sentiment into the kiss to draw Voldemort out of Ginny and into himself. This is where things started to really get interesting._

_As soon as the transference had taken place there was a bright white light and Harry was thrown across the room, through a wooden banister, and into a wall. Here, he promptly slid down onto the floor, where he seemingly lost consciousness again. The living room full of Order members slowly approached the 'Boy-Who-Lived' until the reawakened Ginny warned them to stand back._

_It was a good thing to, because almost immediately Harry's body levitated to an erect position and his eyelids flew open. Now this wouldn't have been cause for concern if the room full of wizards were presented with his normal smoldering emeralds, however, for the first time Voldemort's blood-red orbs flashed disdainfully from the headmaster's 'Golden Boy.'_

"_You weak and pathetic child. Look at the opportunity you have granted me." Voldemort, in Harry's body, stalked around the living room and continued to rant in a snake-like hiss. "A house full of enemies to kill and dare I say it..." At this, he took a good look at all of the women present. " ...witches to enjoy." He raised his right hand to cast his first spell, while everyone else raised theirs to protect themselves. "Avar..." Suddenly, the left side of Harry's body started to resist and he began to take back control._

"_I won't let you do it Riddle, not to anyone else that I love." But before Harry could fully recover he was magically thrown up against a wall._

_Voldemort hissed back through the boy's mouth. "But it's too late I am almost in complete control and everyone in here will die because you were too weak."_

"_NO!" Harry struggled back to his feet and continued to fight against the Dark Lord's influence on his mind. The mental battle raged between the two wizards for nearly ten minutes. Verbal volleys were thrown back and forth constantly; Voldemort would threaten those closest to Harry, to which he would attack Riddle's heritage. All the while, the boy's body was thrown from one place to another on the first floor of the Burrow. He constantly cracked the plaster in walls as he was slammed up against them, smashed through chairs, and broke bones and skin on the sharper furniture. Harry's friends silently cheered him on from the sidelines, for no one was able to approach him in a time like this, lest they shatter his concentration. After one of his particularly hateful remarks involving the virtue of Riddle's pureblood mother, Harry was thrown through a full-length window at the back of the house._

_He was bleeding and broken, never relenting in the struggle, and by now every wizard on the land was silently praying for him to overcome Voldemort. Liquid crimson was pouring from the cuts that adorned almost his entire body, but most alarmingly from a gash on the side of his face that started at the corner of his eye and traveled all the way down to his collarbone. He stumbled up to the foot of the pond in front of the Burrow and summoned all that was within him to banish Voldemort's shadow. With Dumbledore, Ginny, Molly, Ron, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, his mother and father, and most importantly Hermione on his mind he opened his mouth wide, screamed with everything he had, and the spirit was dispelled._

_The wraith traveled out to the middle of the water and turned on him in much the same way a Dementor would, so Harry used the same means of dispatch to get rid of it. An ethereal Prongs erupted from the tip of his wand and charged down what was left of the sixteen year-old Riddle mixed with the Voldemort of today. The Patronus and the evil spirit exploded in a golden shower of beautiful light and Harry collapsed under the strain of the day, but not without adding another page to his legend._

_End Dream Sequence_

(**A/N:** Ginny's POV again.)

My eyes flutter open and I curse under my breath. Not only have I fallen asleep on my watch, but I had also had that dream again. That dream that I hate. That dream that has haunted me for months. I should probably just resign myself to it. I will most likely have it for the rest of my life. Bugger!

Just everything about the beginning of this summer was so scary. Harry was in trouble at Pivet Drive; then Harry was in trouble at headquarters; and finally Harry was in trouble at the Burrow…my own home! He was so frightening that night. Not Voldemort, but Harry. The hate and venom in his voice when he confronted the Dark Lord's accusation; the power he had to display to get rid of Riddle's influence; and the darkness that seemed to consume everyone afterwards was just a little spooky. What was worse, though, was that a wall had seemed to form between Harry and me.

It was as if Voldemort's essence had placed something in between us, romantically anyway. It's sad really. All my wildest dreams were fulfilled in that month after 'The Incident', but I couldn't feel it. Harry came to me, trying to get Hermione off his mind, and I welcomed him with arms wide open. I don't regret it, but instead I was saddened by it. We tried, good god did we try to feel something…anything. In fact, I am blushing just thinking about all the things we tried to feel. I gave him my virginity and he did his best to make it everything I thought it would be. In a way it was. He enjoyed it, and I know I enjoyed it...thoroughly. It's just that we didn't connect on any level whatsoever. It was nothing but great sex, at first…

After I thought about it, for a long time mind you, I felt a little disgusted. I hate to admit it but it felt almost...incestuous. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Harry was more a brother to me than a boyfriend. The next time we were alone I told him about what I had been thinking and that git laughed. He laughed until he cried and I should have been furious, but I wasn't. It was so wonderful to see him laugh about something. In fact, I started to laugh as well after a time. Once he calmed down, he told me that he had been thinking the exact same thing. We were inseparable after that.

Of course I mourned the fact that we could never have a real relationship because Voldemort had tainted us so completely, but I embraced the friendship and kinship we were able to develop because of that divide. It's really wonderful. We know exactly where the other stands and we aren't uncomfortable with platonic, even familial, displays of affection. I hate to say this, and I have always believed that blood is blood no matter what, but Harry's the brother I never had.

Bill was too old for me to get extremely close to. I know that I thought the moon of him when I was a toddler, but that was a long time ago. It's the same with Charlie; he was just a little too old for me to get real close to. Percy is a pompous ass, and I haven't really like him much since he turned his back on us. It's really no different to how he treated the rest of us when he was with the family. He was always locked up in his room trying to better everything about himself, so that one day he could become Minister of Magic or some such thing. Fred and George would sooner use me as a test dummy than a family member, and being twins meant that it was the two of them against the world. That, of course, leaves Ron.

I love Ron, believe me I do, but he takes that protective thing to the max. Even some of my other brothers are a little bothered by the extremes he goes in shielding me. He doesn't realize that that's the problem. He protects me too much, and isn't there for me enough. Take for instance the two boyfriends I have had, that he knows about. Victim number one was Michael Corner. Now even though the relationship ended months before he started going with Cho in her attempt to make Harry jealous, Ron thought that he had been cheating on me with the older Ravenclaw. So Ron charges off, half-cocked, and puts Corner in the hospital wing. Victim number two was Dean Thomas. There really wasn't much between us, maybe just the whisper of a relationship, but did that stop Ron. Of course not. He never tried anything to hurt Dean because, quite frankly, Dean could put Ron through a wall without breaking a sweat, but their friendship hasn't been the same in a long time. Harry's different.

Harry talks to me, and he listens to me, too. He's sweet to me, he helps me, offers me a shoulder to cry on when I need it, and knows exactly when to let me go. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that I had slipped into the position that Hermione had more a less been in for a long time. It was probably more awkward between the two of them because of Harry's feelings, but I know she misses it. And she is jealous of me because of it.

I have seen this look in her eyes when Harry and I are together. Hermione and I are really good friends, the best of female friends in fact, but I still get a thrill from making her seethe. I think that is one of the ways men and women are different. Men are competitive with one another physically. They push each other in sports and games and other activities, but usually when it comes to women they respect each other's rights to court whomever it is they want to be with. Women however, don't care. We challenge each other intellectually and for the affections of men. When guys beat each other it's really no big deal, when we beat each other it can mean the end of a friendship. The problem is that Hermione isn't consciously looking for Harry's affections, and neither am I. She is just confused, and I am trying to help her to see what Harry can be. Helping him this way also makes it easier for me to date.

That's another thing he does really well. He respects my decisions, especially when it comes to men, just as long as I am careful. And really, he does a lot more than that. Usually after I express interest in someone, he approaches them. It's mostly nothing more than a Butterbeer in Hogsmeade and a conscientious effort at becoming friends with them, but it means the world to me. Harry understands my fear of Ron ruining these relationships for me and always helps me to keep them a secret. Harry doesn't explode, either, after my break-ups.

I have had four boyfriends since I got back to school. Bachelor number one was Blaise Zabini. He was one helluva nice looking bloke, but was awfully quiet. He was the epitome of that old adage that "it's the quiet ones you have to watch". We moved pretty fast, but the problem was it wasn't fast enough for him. After just two weeks he was pushing me to have sex and I just wasn't ready for that. I know I was ready that quickly with Harry, but I had known him for most of my life. I didn't know this guy from Adam, and he took it one step too far. I broke it off with him and fled back to Gryffindor Tower in tears. Harry was there, staring into the fire like always, and I flew into his arms. I cried for what seemed like forever and all Harry did, all he had to do, was hold me. After I calmed down, I told him what happened. He had already seen the bruises on my arms from where Zabini had gripped me, so my story must have just confirmed his suspicions. I saw that emerald fire flash behind his eyes for just a second until he was able to calm himself down. He made sure I was comfortable and asleep before he exacted revenge on my behalf. Under normal circumstance, Ron circumstance, I would have been very upset because of Harry's reprisal. However, after everything he did to comfort me and make me safe, I was actually happy to hear about Zabini being in the hospital wing the next day, and being beaten to within an inch of his life on top of that.

The time I spent with Neville was nice, but we are better off as friends. I also had fun with Zacharias Smith, but he made the mistake of cheating on me with some ditsy Hufflepuff. This time I was the one who took care of things. Harry may be a warrior, but he is a man, and I don't think he would ever do anything to harm another man's ability to procreate. I really didn't kick him all that hard, but hard enough to make Harry wince when I told him about it and get my point across. What he did for me the night Colin and I got together was incredibly sweet.

We had the Yule Ball a few weeks ago, and as per our public agreement Harry and I would be going together. I knew though, that at some point Harry would want to escape. So I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I spent the rest of the night with Colin Creevey. Harry didn't mind, and our plans for that evening were set. Ten minutes before the ball was scheduled to start I met him in the common room. I wore some very beautiful dress robes that Harry had purchased for me, and I had reserved the expert skills of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil for my hair and make-up. I thought I looked OK, but Harry had said I looked incredible and told me that Colin would think the same. I was skeptical. Harry had done his best too reassure me over the weeks, but after the situation with Smith I was feeling a bit self-conscious and just as worthless. Harry noticed and said, "let me show you something."

So I followed him all the way up to the Room of Requirement; I watched him pace back and forth until the door appeared; and I stepped inside when he asked me to. At first I was confused. I take Muggle Studies, but I had no idea what kind of strange contraption Harry had asked the room for. The only thing I did know was that it was muggle. He picked it up and told me it was a guitar. I was still confused, so he brought his fingers up and dropped them across the strings. It made the most wonderful noise. Next he said, "I am going to sing you a song Gin and you had better take it to heart."

And then he sang to me. He has, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard.

_**It's late in the evening; she's wondering what clothes to wear.**_

_**She puts on her make-up and brushes her long (red) hair.**_

_**And then she asks me, "Do I look all right?"**_

_**And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight."**_

_**We go to a party and everyone turns to see**_

_**This beautiful lady that's walking around with me.**_

_**And then she asks me, "Do you feel all right?"**_

_**And I say, "Yes, I feel wonderful tonight."**_

_**I feel wonderful because I see**_

_**The love light in your eyes.**_

_**And the wonder of it all**_

_**Is that you just realize how much I love you.**_

_**It's time to go home now and I've got an aching head**_

_**So I give her the car keys and she helps me to bed.**_

_**And then I tell her, as I turn out the light,**_

_**I say, "My darling you were wonderful tonight.**_

_**Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight."**_

It was a bittersweet moment for me. This man, that I thought I had once loved with all my heart, had changed into someone that I considered my closest family member whether or not I wanted him to. Therefore he couldn't have meant all the worlds that he had just sang to me, but he did give me what I needed to move on and try again with someone else. I was incredibly grateful so I gave him a heartfelt kiss on the cheek, one that had caused his eyes to flutter in a feeling of loss for the relationship we could never really have, and we left for the dance. But everything is OK now. I am with Colin, even though it probably won't last, and Harry and I are happy to be brother and sister.

To tell you the truth I am glad we could never be anything real. Harry has a big heart, and he is capable of loving more than one woman at one time. For instance, he loves Hermione with everything he is and he was still able to give me just enough to be content those few weeks we were together. Had we stayed that way he could've shown me something wonderful, but I wouldn't have been able to stand him pinning away for her. We would've hated each other in the end, so I am happy to be the sister he never had. And I know he is happy being the brother I never really had.

Oh no! Oh shit! Maybe if I just close my eyes he won't be standing there. Nope. Didn't work. Oh God...I think Harry just found out!

(**A/N: **I know that Harry's character is sounding a little too good to be true, but that will change. He is going to get angry; he is going to do things that would be considered Dark; and he is going to take lives other than that of Riddle's. He might even have a few illicit affairs if I feel like including them.)

**Next Chapter:** Hermione


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer – I don't own anything. If I did own either HP or U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", then I'd be filthy rich.

**Chapter 4 (Hermione's POV)**

I've seen that look before…

I was fortunate enough to witness it the last time I'd seen my parents sharing a look in the car on the way to the station this year…

I spied the same look in Mr. Weasley's eyes while he was watching his wife putter around the kitchen at the Burrow…

It's the same look that I wish Ron would grow up enough to give me…

I had never, ever thought I would see that look coming from _him_…

And that is one of the reasons why I can't stand to face Harry right now. I feel terrible for the hurt Ron and I have caused him over the past half year. We'd been distant, and so had he. However, as his friends we should never had let that happen. Ron and I expected it; I mean, who wouldn't shut down after witnessing the closest thing to a father you'd ever had murdered before your very eyes? And that was just at the beginning of the mess that this past summer had turned out to be. But despite all that, I did nothing to help him through it. The reason…I was afraid.

Quite frankly, I was terrified by the sheer ferocity in Harry's eyes the night that Ginny had been possessed. I had heard snippets of stories from other people about this look he gets right before he throws himself into these situations. I had yet to see it. In first year, Harry went through the fire alone. In second year, I was petrified. That time in third year when Harry had confronted Sirius, I had been busy seeing to Ron's injuries. In fourth year, everything was happening away from me. At the Department of Mysteries, I had been incapacitated to early to witness Harry get really intense. That night at the Burrow was the first time I had every seen the change come over him from an outside perspective. To be honest, it scarred the hell out of me.

So, the "Golden Trio" started to drift a bit. I threw myself headfirst into my relationship with Ron. Harry seemed to lose himself in studying, training, the DA, and…Ginny of all people. I don't think I was jealous, per se. I mean, despite that look I know is burning a hole into the back of my head, I still can't really bring myself to think of Harry that way. No, I was more jealous of the position Ginny had taken, because that position had been mine. The two of them had become best friends. She was his new confidant and the one thing I never could bring myself to be…his lover.

I wanted it back. I wanted, selfishly, to be the person he talked to again. At first, I thought close proximity would allow us to slip back into that groove, so I took up studying with him in the library. It really didn't work. We shared pleasantries, of course.

"_Hello, Hermione. How are you?"_

"_Oh, I am fine Harry. And you?"_

"_Good. Needed a few hours in the library, so that I survive the Potions Exam tomorrow."_

"_Do you need any help?"_

"_No thanks, Mione. I can handle it."_

And that was that. He'd look back at whatever book he had been reading, in this case a NEWT Potions book, and I would start searching the library isles for a text. There was never anything there, no substance whatsoever. Not in the library, or when we were walking towards our shared classes (I had a few more with Harry then I did with Ron). I tried to ask Ginny, seeing as he was at least talking to her. Every time I did, she gave me the same enigmatic answer. "He'll tell you Hermione, when he is damn good and ready!"

I had originally worried that Harry and I would have to start all over again, at square one. The only problem with that was that I didn't fancy another bathroom encounter with a mountain troll. So, I did the unthinkable and resigned myself to holding in this lurch, just waiting and watching for Harry to make the first move. My new angle of approach started about a month ago.

Harry, it seems, is very busy.

He usually wakes up at around six in the morning and then spends about a half hour in the washroom. He gets to the common room at around 6:35, dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and from there he goes for a run around the school for an hour. Afterwards, he gets cleaned up again, but this time with a few laps in the Great Lake. A quick change and a hurried breakfast later, he's in his first period class by 9:00. Harry is studying to be an Auror, so his classes reflect that career decision. He is only taking the essentials, which are NEWT Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, and Potions (all of which he passed with O's…_infuriating_). His school day usually ends around 4:00 P.M. Harry then spends about two hours in the common room doing homework or relaxing by the fire, sometimes with Ginny, sometimes with others. From there he disappears for about three hours. I can't say for sure what he is doing, but I think he's training his body and his magic with Dumbledore. After that, on alternating days, he either teaches the DA or has Quidditch practice for a few hours. Harry then takes another hour for homework and another hour walking. He just walks, from one end of the school to the other…over and over again. He only sleeps about four or five hours a night and he seems to thrive where others would be exhausted. I know if I didn't get back to the common room before 1:00 in the morning, then I'd be sluggish. Harry does it all the time, the rules be damned.

That's another thing that has changed about Harry. His disregard for the rules has transformed into something juvenile. In years past, he used to only want to break the rules if it was for a good cause. This year, however, has just been a flagrant affront to any rule anyone tries to set for him. He's attacking Fitch's mandates by staying out 'till all hours and tracking who-knows-what with him on the way in. He's turning a blind eye to Professor Snape's sense of propriety and long standing belief in proper wizarding tradition by wearing just about whatever the hell he wants. Harry has long since abandoned the Hogwart's official uniform. He doesn't even wear his house robes anymore unless to keep warm or to protect himself in a class. If it isn't Muggle, then Harry won't wear it. I find it very funny sometimes. Despite the fact I have been living the real thing for five and a half years, I sill hold on to some of those glamorous fantasies I had about what real wizard's looked like from old fairy tales. One day it may not be too felonious a comparison, but when I look at Harry I see Merlin. A Merlin with dark and unruly hair, Firebolt at his side, glasses glinting in the sunlight, and a Nike logo T-Shirt. But anyway, he's really disappointing Professor McGonagall by losing the house points he has. Harry's more than made up for it on the Quidditch pitch, in the classroom, and by just doing what he does. However, if he wants to do something for himself, then Harry's "damn well going to do it." By the by, that is a direct quote.

So, as made evident, I spent a considerable amount of time (not too much to seem obsessed, but enough to ascertain what I have) following the 'Boy-Who-Never-Stops-Long-Enough-To-Have-A-Serious-Converstaion-With-Ron-And-I'.

It wasn't until about a week ago that anything of real consequence occurred.

It was the night of the Yule Ball. Headmaster Dumbledore had not only reinstated the dance, but also promised it would become an annual tradition. I can only assume that his motives were to increase morale amongst the student body. As a result, many other socials had been planned for occasions such as Valentine's Day, Graduation, Halloween, and so on.

I was awaiting the evening of the dance exuberantly. I had really wanted to go with Ron, and we managed to pull it off without inciting too much suspicion. He had made this overly dramatic display of apologizing for his false step in fourth year, offered to escort me to the dance as a friend, and made his intentions perfectly clear (at least to everyone in the common room).

Harry would be going to the dance with Ginny, whom we all thought was his girlfriend. Her and I had gotten together at a previous Hogsmeade weekend and purchased what we would need for the night. Lavender and Parvati helped us with our hair and makeup, and the four of us lapsed the time with some idle gossip. I hate gossip, but it gave me an opportunity to smother any rumors that would compromise my relationship with Ron and find out more about Ginny and Harry. Unfortunately, Ginny was being just as tight lipped about her and Harry as I was being vocal in refuting Lavender and Parvati's claims about Ron and me.

The most the terrible twosome could pull from her was a furious blush when they had asked her about the status of her virginity. I have to admit, I wasn't quite prepared to hear about that. I don't know if it was jealousy or just an overbearing shock, but something stirred in me for a time.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I decided to go as a group. Moreover, the four of us decided to be "fashionably late" as to not attract attention. So we met the guys at the bottom of the Girls' staircase about five minutes before the start of the dance. I must say that Ginny and I looked very lovely, while Harry and Ron looked just as handsome as ever. I may not have felt, or will ever feel, that way about Harry but even I can admit he looks good in a muggle suit (the dance having a fairly liberal dress code, he definitely took advantage of exploiting it). Despite the fact that he may never dress the part, Harry is fully capable of acting just as much a lord of the Houses Potter and Black as any other pureblood. They both were very chivalrous, Harry more so because Ron and I didn't want to give anything away, and lavished us with praise. We then made our way to the Great Hall. We were all hoping that showing up approximately five minutes into the first song, as per my plan, would save us from any unwanted consideration. For once, we caught a break and no one so much as batted an eyelash when we arrived.

We spent a few minutes partaking in the specialized meals that the house elves provided (I, admittedly, with less gusto than my compatriots), and then when spent time with our partners on the dance floor. I spent a few "friendly" dances with Ron and one with Harry. Meanwhile, Harry spent a few much more intimate dances with Ginny and a very nice, I thought, dance with Luna. But then he and Ginny seemed to disappear. At that time, I thought it safe to dance a little closer to Ron, but still far enough away to maintain propriety. By the end of the night however, we shared a very special slow dance. We decided to retire and spend a little "quality" time with one another before the actual end of the dance. Unfortunately, on the way back to the common room I saw a recognizable mane of red hair sharing a deep kiss with another blonde one. Thankfully, it wasn't Malfoy, build was too stocky, like I had assumed. To my astonishment, I recognized the male as Colin Creevey. I had thought he was gay for all the time he spent taking photos of Harry. I didn't know how to approach the situation save for dragging Ron away. He had bent over to tie his shoes and hadn't seen a thing. We made it back to the Fat Lady, and I was starting to look forward to the night ahead again. However, inside the common room I spied Harry in a corner, alone, and listening to what looked like an Extendable Ear attached to some strange contraption. I bid Ron a goodnight, thanked him for a lovely evening, whispered a quick apology about the ruination of our intended tryst, and squared my soldiers. It was about time I had a real conversation with Harry.

He was sitting in his favorite chair, facing the fire at an angle, with his eyes closed. Whatever his ear was plugged into was a very interesting apparatus. A piece of chord ran from his ear to his wand where the string wrapped around the base, attached to the handle. Said wand was suspended upside down; handle to the ceiling and apex towards the ground. The end, or "barrel", was near, to the point of touching, the underside of a regular, everyday muggle CD. If it was a muggle CD, then I was unable to tell who the artist was due to the fact that the label was inverted. Apart from the Extendable ear chord, another, running parallel to the prior, led back towards his hand. And in this hand, his right, a Wizarding Wireless dial lay in the palm. I was just about to awake Harry from his trance when, without even skipping a beat or opening his eyes, he used his left hand to disengage the CD, place it back into its case, pull out an old vinyl record (like the ones I've seen in my father's collection), and set it in motion. A slight scratching reached my own ears and I looked down to see him turning the dial. I looked back to the vinyl and realized that the dial was moving the wand along the surface of the LP. Thusly, I realized that the wand acted as a record needle and the conduit of the sound. I had never seen or heard of anything like this before and in my excitement I almost forgot about my determination to speak with Harry. Quickly, I collected my thoughts, gave my head a shake, and tapped on his shoulder.

He disengaged the Extendables in much the same way that a teenager would a pair of headphones, to the base of his neck and with a slightly aggravated look on his face. Once he realized it was me though, his faced cleared and he offered me a small smile.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Harry…I was just wondering… (for an instance I lost my nerve) what _are_ you listening to?"

He handed me the "headphones"; I had thought he had misinterpreted me.

"No, Harry. I meant what…"

"I realize that Hermione, but this song is important to me. I'll tell you after you give a listen."

I was hesitant at first. He reassured me, however, with a trusting smile. I placed the Extendables into my ears. I was very happy that I did when I heard U2 sliding over from the other end.

Even though I'm may be straight laced in my studies and in life, I can still appreciate Rock n' Roll. Besides, this was one of my favorite songs.

**I have climbed highest mountain  
I have run through the fields  
Only to be with you  
Only to be with you **

**I have run  
I have crawled  
I have scaled these city walls  
These city walls  
Only to be with you**

**But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for**

**I have kissed honey lips  
Felt the healing in her fingertips  
It burned like fire  
This burning desire**

**I have spoke with the tongue of angels  
I have held the hand of a devil  
It was warm in the night  
I was cold as a stone**

**But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for**

**I believe in the kingdom come  
Then all the colors will bleed into one  
Bleed into one  
Well yes I'm still running**

**You broke the bonds and you  
Loosed the chains  
Carried the cross  
Of my shame  
Of my shame  
You know I believed it**

**But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...**

I really hated Ginny right then. She had this special guy, who was listening to this great music and undoubtedly thinking of her. For all that was worth, she was off necking with Colin Creevey.

"Ginny is one lucky witch."

Now, hindsight being 20/20 and all, I should have known that the flicker in his eyes was something completely different from what I had taken it for. At the time, I had believed it was some illusion brought on by the shimmer of firelight against his green irises. Really, it was his love, the love I find glaring at me today, jumping up to the surface for a brief moment before being pulled back by its handler. However, I couldn't even comprehend something like that the night of the Ball.

"Harry, you owe me. What is this thing?" I queried, while simultaneously referring to the device the music was coming from and our lack of communication over the past months.

Harry, realizing where this conversation might go, pulled in a great big gulp of air and let it out slowly through his nose. His whole body was tense, his face resigned, and it looked like the last thing he wanted to do was to talk about the machine. He assumed, correctly, that after I asked him what it was I would ask where he had gotten it. After that, a string of questions would follow that would eventually wiggle out of Harry a breakdown of his entire summer.

I didn't want Harry to run, not when we could really talk for the first time in months. Asking him about his summer would most assuredly have him moving in any direction just as long as it was away from me. Accepting that it was too soon, I made an offering.

"Harry, you don't have to tell me about the bad things. I don't need to know about the Dursleys or Number 12. Frankly, none of that is my business. Can't we just talk about some of the good things? Aren't I aloud to just ask you how the better parts of your summer were?"

It wasn't my intention, but about halfway through my dialogue I realized I was pleading. I couldn't help the hurt in my voice, or on my face. Seeing this, Harry unraveled. The muscles in his arm where I had placed my hand went limp. His face cleared, his gaze softened, and he offered me a reassuring smile. Harry took my hand, led me to a couch directly in front of the fire, and began to speak.

"To answer your first question, this thing is something I like to call an Interpreter..."

The "Interpreter", he would eventually tell me, is a device that was originally designed by his mother. Lily Potter had two loves, outside of her family, and they were muggle music and Charms. Being a Charms Mistress, she was always looking for new and inventive ways to reapply them in everyday life. Through the course of the conversation, I learned from Harry that his mother had invented many a household cleaning spell and protective charm in her day, but her opus was the "Interpreter". Working with Filius Flitwick, Lily was able to design the basic schematic for the device and create some of the sustaining magicks that held the apparatus together and suspended in space. Sadly though, Voldemort had ended her life before she was able to finish it.

This is where Harry came in. During the summer, he found the plans for the device and started to bring together a few different people to finish his mother's work. Once again, Professor Flitwick was brought in as a consultant but Harry also contacted Fred and George Weasley. I asked him why, and he explained that even though the twins only received three O.W.L.S each, they were Outstandings in the fields of Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration. The twins supplied the Extendable Ears as "headphones" and the modifications that allowed the Wireless dial to act like a remote control for the "Interpreter". Harry himself had written the Arithmancy equation that allowed the device to be compatible with both compact disc and record vinyl.

At this, I know my mouth was hanging open in shock. He had never taken the course, yet he was able to write a magical numeration complex enough to allow a prototypical magical contraption the ability to be functional on two totally different mediums. Dumbfounded, I asked him how that was possible and he answered me in one word.

"Occlumency."

I requested of him to elaborate. I had no idea how an obscure branch of magic, one he used to have trouble with no doubt, like Occlumency would allow him to swallow five years of magical theory in a scarce few months and then write an equation even I wouldn't of been capable of. He told me.

Supposedly, Professor Snape started Harry's Occlumens training on step 7,436 instead of at the beginning. He was teaching Harry at the level he himself was practicing on, and that is a level that spies and espionage operatives need it. These people not only have to hide important information, but they also have to act like they don't even have it on them during a legilimency scan. Ergo, Snape drilling Harry to completely clear his mind, instead of going over the basics of mental organization and projective protection, was like giving a toddler a twelve-speed with no training wheels. Once Harry learned Occlumency the correct way, he found that it did more for him then just shielding his mind from Voldemort.

Occlumency, it seems, has many fringe benefits. Harry's intellectual capabilities have increased ten-fold. For the last couple of months he has been able to inhale books. Also, he only has to read them once because mental organization brings with it the wonderful addition of a photographic memory. The speed with which the neurons inside his head have been firing has increased, meaning that he recalls the information he has learned much more readily. The synapses connecting the muscles from his body to the motor control center of his brain are even further cemented then they already were resulting in quicker reflexes. Harry is operating on a completely different level due to Occlumency, and I have to admit that I am terribly jealous. So, I asked him if he could teach me. I must have looked like the quintessential bookworm right then because Harry gave me an indulgent smile.

"Occlumency is a very personal magic," he told me. "I'd have to get closer to you than either of us would like. It would be better if you learned on your own." He wordlessly summoned his books to the common room from his dorm. "Here, learn from these. Always remember though that it won't solve all your problems and you shouldn't depend too heavily on it."

Supposedly though, it still isn't a "walk in the park" for him in his special training (I knew that was what he was doing). He can't tell me everything, but he did say that he was working very closely with a Senior Auror, an Unspeakable, a retired Hit Wizard, and Professor Dumbledore. Also, he is working with a squib Martial Artist for physical combat and weapons training. I can only assume that he has spoken with a consultant from Her Royal Military in regards to tactics. He has made a few changes in regards to the way the DA is organized, breaking us down into platoons with ranks and such.

I had so many more questions; I probably could have kept him up the rest of the night talking about it. However, it was at that moment that Ginny Weasley strutted through the common room portrait. Her hair was mussed, her makeup ruined, and her lips were so swollen that you'd have to be an idiot not to know that she had been snogging. I should have been watching Harry's reaction more carefully, if I had I would have seen a carefree smile on his face, but I was to busy starring daggers at the daft female in front of us. He got up from the couch, strolled over to Ginny, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. I was shocked, but not surprised enough to hide the anger on my face, and he only increased my bewilderment by giving the girl a knowing smile and asking, "Did you have a good time?"

Ginny couldn't answer; she was gapping, frightened even, at me. Harry, not expecting a lack of answer, looked back at me. I guess I was still infuriated. He glanced back and forth between the two of us a few more times and then announced that he was off to bed. The only justification for this was that he felt it was time that Ginny and I had a chat.

So we did. I put up a privacy charm and started to let her have it. I am sure I used a myriad of insulting epithets, but Ginny took every single one of them on the chin and let me vent. By the end of my rant, I realized I was being very hypocritical. I too had been lying to Harry for months about the relationship between Ron and me, but I didn't let that slow my roll. I must have pushed a very touchy button with my last remark.

"I can't believe you Ginny! You have been waiting to be with him for years and he has put himself in front of danger for you countless times. I just guess that the _feeling_ of Harry's love isn't enough for a scarlet woman like you!"

I don't think I will ever be more scarred of a woman in my entire life as I was at that moment. Her entire face flushed with anger while she marched up to me to slap me in the face. To say that I was simply stunned would be an understatement. Before I could regain my bearings, though, she was laying into me.

"You bitch! You have no idea how bad I wish the _feeling_ of Harry's love was enough. But the fact of the matter is I can't feel Harry's love!" I must have looked confused; she elaborated. "I don't feel it, Hermione! Whatever Voldemort did to me, to us, left it so that we can't really feel each other." I think I still looked strange; she kept talking. "I wish more than anything that our love could be more, but it can never be. We treat one another as siblings, and Harry covers for me when I try to be with other guys because that brother of mine, the one you have been fucking behind Harry's back, won't let me be any other way!"

The fact that she knew our secret did not shake me. I wanted to know to much more about her and Harry to really care.

"But I have seen the two of you. You hang off each other all the time."

"Gods Hermione, for someone so perceptive you sure missed the boat on this one. It is all apart of the act!" She continued a little more quietly this time. "Also, Harry needs the affection that you aren't willing to give him anymore."

I could barely respond. "Wha…w-what do you mean…"

"Oh come on Hermione. Before you got with Ron you used to touch Harry all the time. Nothing serious, I agree, but you always used to hug him or touch him or give all you attention to him when he needed it. You never did it to the level that I do it, but it was there. It isn't there anymore and, considering this summer, Harry needs it now more than ever."

I couldn't find my voice then, and I can't find my voice now. Back in the present, for the first time in six months, I focus all of my attention on Harry. I am thinking of nothing else but him, not Ron or anyone else, just him.

"I…I am sorry Harry."

"Don't! Please don't do that Hermione. I really couldn't stand your pity right now. Just…just go get Ron so I can say my peace and leave."

"What do you mean by 'leave', Harry?"

"The sooner you bring Ron down, the sooner you'll have your answer Hermione."

I turned around, and started walking up to get the third member of our group. As I make my way to the dormitory, all think about is what did Harry mean by "leave".

**A/N: **Sorry 'bout the wait. I might move a little faster next time. Tune in next time for Harry2.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this or "Won't Get Fooled Again", JKR and The WHO do.

**Chapter 5:** Harry Again!

I watched them limp back down the stairs. For a second, Hermione and Ron looked like a couple of little children getting ready to be scolded by their parents. I didn't want for it, but the amusement came anyway. I wanted to yell and to scream and to hit someone, preferably Ron, but I knew there were some things that needed to be said. But I was going to give them a thorough dressing down for keeping all this from me.

"Let's have it then."

Ron looked confused for a second but Hermione understood, although, she did look less than thrilled about the upcoming conversation.

"What do you mean mate?"

Ron. Dear, sweet, innocent, infuriating Ron. You can't live with him, can't live without him.

"What I mean, Ron, is that it is time for you and Hermione to explain just what the hell has been going on between you two for the last year or so."

They looked shocked that I had guessed it had been going on for so long. And then, they both started to try and refute me at the same time.

"We swear it hasn't been that…"

"It's only been a little…"

I wasn't in the mood for this, at all.

"Be quiet, the both of you! You're skating on thin enough ice as it is without compounding the situation by lying. Unless of course you are cheating with someone else, Ron, this has been going on since at least October. Plus, I know you, Hermione. There's no reason for it, but you can be extremely insecure at times. You would have wanted to wait at least a couple of months before anything sexual happened between the two of you. Come on Hermione, _you owe me, what the hell is this thing?_"

It was a dirty move, but throwing her words back was just too appealing. She looked at me as if I had physically stricken her, and I realized it would take some time for her to regain her bearings. Meanwhile, Ron had that look on his face as if he had just thought of something _"bloody brilliant!"_ I was getting ready for him to put his foot in his mouth.

"Well, Harry, Hermione and I feel as if what we have between the two of us is just none of your business."

Ron. Dear, sweet, innocent, infuriating Ron. You can't live with him, can't kill him either.

"Do you want to handle this, or should I?"

I looked to the brunette of the trio as I was saying this; she just sagged a little in emotional exhaustion.

"Well, Ron, let us just forget the obvious fact that what you were doing was in my bed. Let's just forget that I know this started in October because both the map and my invisibility cloak were missing from my trunk…"

For the first time in a long time, I thought about what that meant to me. I thought and thought and thought. When I came to my conclusion, I glanced up at the two of them. Both of them winced at the expression on my face. They were preparing for an explosion, so I gave them a whisper.

"Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Those are some of the only heirlooms I had for the longest time of my parents. And you would dare use them as sexual aids. I still can't get that fucking smell out of my cloak! HOW WOULD THAT MAKE YOU FEEL! You have any precious jewelry or tokens that your family plans on leaving you, Hermione? What about you Ron, can I have a go at your parents' ancestral spell books?"

Once again they were both stunned; once again they attempted to apologize in chorus.

"Mate, I am so…"

"Harry, please forgi…"

"I AM NOT FINISHED YET!"

And I wasn't.

"What about the hypocrisy in what you are saying Ron?"

He actually started to look a little upset.

"Save it Ron, before you piss me off again. Every time Hermione and I did something by ourselves last year, you threw a fit. What makes what the two of you do any different? I'll tell you this though, I was sorry then, and I am sorry now. I came to realize, no matter how damaged our relationship has been this year, that the three of us are a team. What affects one of us, affects all of us. The strategic aspect of your relationship alone should be enough justification."

"What do you…"

"What I mean is that I don't know where either of you stand anymore. We always felt a loss when one of the three of us was taken down, but the two that were left were able to move on and finish what needed to be finished. That won't be the case any longer."

"Harry, you know that's not true!"

"Do I, Hermione? So you're telling me that if Ron were killed right now, in the line of duty, you would be able to just soldier on and help get me to the finish line?"

Not having an answer for me was answer enough.

"I thought so. What about, and this is what burns me the most, the fact that everyone in this damn place knew about the two of you before me. I mean the first person to say anything to me about it was Malfoy…DRACO FUCKING MALFOY, of all people!"

I heard simultaneous gasps from my friends.

"That was what he was goading me with the day I put him in the hospital wing. But I figured 'No my friends wouldn't let me hear about this from Malfoy. They would tell me about this up front if they were really together.' I blew him off until he called Tonks a 'bitch in heat' because she had been with Remus. That was when I put him through a fucking wall. I trusted the two of you, but I guess I was wrong."

I had finally exhausted what was left of my anger. Ron and Hermione had been stunned into silence. What I did next seem to wake them up a little.

"So…I'm leaving."

For what had to have been the fourth or fifth time, the two of them made another move to put me off of something by talking or acting at the same time. I held up a hand for silence.

"Whether or not you believe me, this isn't just about you. Dumbledore wants to train me more intensively for whatever is to go down between Voldemort and me. He seems to think that I should be ready, just in case I am the one that has to end this." It was a misrepresentation of the information, but I'm not going to let them know the prophecy. Not now anyway, I really don't know if I can trust them at the moment. "I don't know when I'll be back…and…we really shouldn't part with all this resentment between us. It's funny because I thought I was prepared for this. Most of the anger and hurt I hold now is probably more because I wasn't as ready for it as I thought I was. There will come a day when I will be ok with this, but right now I am still fairly upset. I am willing to forgive, but like I said, it will take some time."

They looked very hopeful.

"I guess that this is goodbye for now, and I would really appreciate it if you could let Ginny know for me."

As I turned to walk out the portrait hole, a desperate sob grabbed my attention.

"Harrison James Potter! If you think you can leave without giving your little sister a proper goodbye, then you've got another thing coming."

I turned and took a good look at Ginny. She was doing an amazing impersonation of her mother. The only problem was that she looked far more vulnerable than I had ever seen Mrs. Weasley ever look.

"Have I told you yet today, Gem, that I love you very much?"

And with that, I opened up my arms as she barreled off the stairs and into what little comfort I could offer.

"Harry…you c-can't go. Not…not when we're finally starting to get this brother-sister thing figured out."

I don't even have to look up to know that Ron probably looks really confused right about now.

"I know sweetie, but it was either going to be sooner or later that I got this call. I have to go; I have to train; I have to fight; if need be, I'll have to kill. But don't worry, because I will do everything in my power to get back to all of you. You, Ron, Hermione, your family, all the Professors, and the memory of everything that has been sacrificed up to this point will get me back. Besides, it won't be like I'll be unable to communicate with you. I will be sure to get it set up with Dumbledore that I keep at least the three of you up to date."

I pulled Gem, as I had come to call her since the summer because I happen to think it is a very clever way of saying Ginerva Molly, back from my chest to wipe away her tears.

"Hey now, I'll have no more of this crying nonsense. I want a hug, a kiss, and dry eyes before I walk out that door."

She laughed a little, squeezed me a little tighter, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I placed a kiss on her forehead and we walked arm and arm towards Hermione and Ron.

"Ron, take this bit of advice before I go. From now on, when it comes to the guys Ginny decides to date, just give them a chance. OK?"

With this I gave him a firm handshake, a one-armed hug, and turn to Hermione.

"You take care of yourself, Hermione."

It was awkward, but I gave her a hug and a kiss to the forehead as well.

"See you three on the other side of all this."

And I walked off towards my fate.

(**A/N:** Now this was my original stopping point, but I decided to go a little further.)

I make my way towards the Headmaster's office with a tremendous headache. 'I'll be spending a little extra time in the Ogden's tonight,' I thought bitterly. I reached the gargoyle to la casa de Dumbledore, offered the password, and traveled up the revolving stone steps into yet another headache.

In the office, sitting around Albus' desk, were Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Davis, and my favorite person in the whole wide world – Draco 'effing' Malfoy. I was confused. Not only were these three students here, but their luggage was here also.

"What's up?"

"Well, Potty, the Headmaster summoned us here and said to bring our things because we are going to some kind of…'academic seminar'…was the way I believe he put it."

My eyes moved sharply from Malfoy to said speaker. Once I recognized the mega-watt twinkle in the old bastard's eyes, I knew exactly what it was he wanted me to do.

"NO BLOODY FUCKING WAY IN HELL ALBUS!"

I was not happy.

The second after I said it, I was met with three shocked stares and one sinister smile that would forever lead me to believe that Dumbledore had been in Slytherin.

"Oh Harry, you most certainly will. And not only that, but I have another…_minor_ task that I'll need you to perform on a…_quarterly_ basis."

All of a sudden I felt very worried.

"Imagine my surprise when Stibbins, the house elf that I've charged with cleaning the _seventh floor corridor_ in Dobby's place, ran into this very office worried about some strange _stringy_ noises coming from that same location."

Dumbledore took extra delight in watching me pale. If he makes me do what I think he is trying to do, then I will very much enjoy sticking my wand up his ass after I get done with Voldemort.

"Naturally I investigated, and do you know what I found Harry?"

"No sir, but I am positive you'll tell me."

He actually made it worse by pulling out a pensieve.

"How about I show you?"

Sometimes I really hate that old codger.

"Glad you could see it my way, Harry."

With that, Dumbledore brought his wand to his temple and placed his memory in the pensieve.

"Why don't we all take a look?"

The five of us crowded around the bowl and plunged in. I recognized almost instantly what memory we'd be witnessing just from the way my arm was waving through the air. As we all know Pete Townshend has a very trademark way of playing power chords. Does the term 'windmill' mean anything to you?

"As I was saying, I just so happened to be doing some paperwork in my office when one of the house elves alerted me to some disturbance they had heard while cleaning the seventh floor. Imagine my surprise when I found the cause of this disturbance to be none other than Mr. Harry James Potter playing a muggle instrument called an electric guitar. By the way Harry, you have to explain to me how you were able to get electricity to work here at Hogwarts."

He gave me an infuriating smirk, twinkle on full blast, and I gestured very rudely with my right hand.

"Listen closely boys; Harry is surprisingly good."

**_We'll be fighting in the streets  
With our children at our feet  
And the morals that they worship will be gone  
And the men who spurred us on  
Sit in judgment of all wrong  
They decide and the shotgun sings the song_**

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution  
Take a bow for the new revolution  
Smile and grin at the change all around  
Pick up my guitar and play  
Just like yesterday  
Then I'll get on my knees and pray  
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come  
We knew it all along  
We were liberated from the fold, that's all  
And the world looks just the same  
And history ain't changed  
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution  
Take a bow for the new revolution  
Smile and grin at the change all around  
Pick up my guitar and play  
Just like yesterday  
Then I'll get on my knees and pray  
We don't get fooled again  
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside  
If we happen to be left half alive  
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky  
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie  
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets  
Looks any different to me  
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye  
And the parting on the left  
Are now parting on the right  
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution  
Take a bow for the new revolution  
Smile and grin at the change all around  
Pick up my guitar and play  
Just like yesterday  
Then I'll get on my knees and pray  
We don't get fooled again  
Don't get fooled again  
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss  
Same as the old boss

This night just keeps getting better and better. First Hermione and Ron rip my heart out, and now I have to deal with this old bastard airing out all of my secrets (especially such embarrassing ones). I jumped out of the pensieve before the memory even ended, and picked up a heavy book to hurl at Dumbledore's head when he climbed his old ass on out of it. I watched both Fletchley and Malfoy fall out confused, but still laughing about what they had seen. Davis came out next and he actually looked impressed. Although, he is a muggleborn with parents that had studied abroad at Berkley in the Colonies during the 60s and 70s, so I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. I was just about to clobber the old headmaster in the head when Fawkes flew from his perch, landed on my forearm, and pecked me none to gently on the wrist.

"Damnit, Fawkes! What the hell did you do that for!"

He hovered in front of me and gave me a look like 'you know exactly why I did that', so I threw the book at him instead. I wasn't very surprised, but very aggravated when the overblown chicken gracefully glided out of the way, and flew back towards his perch trilling the whole time. I was even more indignant when I heard the other occupants of the room now laughing at me because I was arguing with a bird. I gave all of them my most intimidating glare; it seemed to silence both Fletchley and Davis and reduced Malfoy's snicker to an unsteady smirk, but Dumbledore just laughed harder.

"OK, old man! What is it that you want me to do?"

"Oh, Harry. Can't you guess?"

"I have no idea how that depraved, deranged processor that you call a brain works."

(While all this is going on the other three occupants of the room are watching Albus and I banter back and forth in the same way that they would a tennis volley. Well…if two of the three of them knew what a tennis volley was.)

"Come on Harry. What plans of mine about important dates have I recently announced?"

"It better not have anything to do with some of the social events you have organized over the next few years."

"As it just so happens, Harry, that is exactly what I need for you to do. You see, I need some entertainment for these events I think it would do some good for the students if they had the opportunity to experience muggle music. And before you say anything, whether or not you play is non-negotiable."

I was extremely angry that he had the audacity to make me go through with this, but I started to think about it. If he made me do something like this, then I should be able to parley for some of my own concessions about the next year and a half.

"Fine old man, but I have some demands of my own."

"And what might those demands be Harry?"

"First, if I am to do this, then I don't want the students to know that it is me doing it."

"That doesn't seem to be too unreasonable."

"That's good to hear, because I'm not finished. Two, I want total anonymity in how I train these thre…"

I guess Malfoy was slower than I had originally believed. He must have been under the impression that he would be training with me, and not trained by me.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, how can you let this arrogant half-blood train me. I realize he has some power, but his spell repertoire is poorly lacking. I refuse to all…"

I guess Dumbledore wasn't going to be as patient with young Draco as he usually was with Snape, his pet Deatheater.

"MR. MALFOY! You will sit back down this instant and still your tongue! I have been training Harry personally in combat magic with the aid of a Time-Turner for quite some time now, and I think it is safe to say that he could probably do a better job of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts than your current professor. And that goes without mentioning all of the military, physical, and weapon's training I have had my colleagues administer. You should consider yourself lucky I chose you from your house, because I'd just as soon pick anyone else!"

I was surprised, as was everyone else in the room, even some of the portraits looked a little apprehensive, but Albus wasn't exactly done with the blonde albino yet.

"However, because you lowered yourself to the degree that you posthumously degraded Harry's family in such a way that his only choice of reprisal led to a rather convincing defeat in a wizard's duel between you and he, you have seen the extent of Mr. Potter's power. This is a secret I would like to keep as quiet as possible and that is why I chose you and the two other wizards present that day. I would watch my step Draco, because I am about to turn your well being over to someone who is being trained to eventually end a life. I'd pray if I were you, that it not be your own."

By the end of Albus' lecture, Malfoy had paled to an almost dangerously looking white I didn't know the human complexion was even capable of reaching. Needless to say he sat down to keep from falling over, and was quiet from then on.

"Go ahead Harry. Is there any other way I could be of service."

"Yes, I would also like to reserve the right to take these three out on missions, Order or otherwise, throughout England and the continent."

"That, I am sorry to say, will depend on the mission. And my decisions from case to case will be non-negotiable."

"Yes, well I am going to need a way to keep in contact with my friends. And finally, if I am going to do this then I will need one more person."

"And who would that be Harry?"

I knew I was going to get some sort of interesting reaction when they found out who else it was that I was referring to.

"Why I'll need Neville Longbottom, of course!"

You could have heard a pin drop.

"Harry, are you sure?"

"Why of course I am Albus."

"Well, when he gets back from his break, I…"

"No, Dumbledore. If we are going to do this, then I want us all starting on the same page. If we wait, Neville will be at least a month behind. Besides, you said I had complete anonymity and the right to conduct missions. This fulfills two of my requests and because there is such a low degree of danger involved, you can think of it as a training mission if you have to."

Dumbledore looked very reticent to acquiesce to my request, but he did in the end.

"So after we get Neville where should we report to Albus?"

Suddenly the headmaster had a very sly look on his face.

"Well, the third floor if you must know. I usually say it is off limits every year in case I want to run one of my projects and don't want any of the students getting in the way. I think it would be a perfect place for you five to transform into a training center."

"Well if there isn't anything else that you need headmaster, then the three of us need to go pick up Neville."

I turned to give orders to Davis and Fletchley, 'shrink your shit and stow it'; they were used to my orders from the D.A. Under the expert tutelage of the squib SAS member that her Royal Majesty had provided to Albus this last year, I have been able to turn the D.A. into a real army with ranks, orders, and platoons. It took a while for everyone to get used to it, but the novelty of it (everyone plays at being in the service when their young a little bit) coupled with the strenuous physical exercises I used as punishment should they not take me seriously enough, got everyone more or less in line. And as good little soldiers, Fletchley and Davis set to completing their orders while Malfoy kind of just sat there as stared. I rolled my eyes skyward and said to myself 'Jesus this is going to be a long year.'

As we walked out of Albus' office, Fletchley and Davis fell into line behind me with Draco bringing up the rear very awkwardly and hesitantly. We marched on anyway. And when I say we marched we really marched. This disturbed Malfoy even further, but this time the headmaster was no where in sight so Draco didn't waste anytime in degrading us for it. My patience with the Slytherin has always been famously thin, but tonight I felt extremely confrontational. So, by the time Malfoy decided to use the fourth derogatory derivation of my given name I had finally had enough. I stopped, turned to look at Justin and Anthony, touched my wrist and gestured towards Draco. A great many things then happened in surprisingly quick succession. Anthony and Justin flanked Malfoy on the left and right respectively, the Hufflepuff punched Malfoy in the stomach while the Ravenclaw knocked the wand out of Draco's rising hand. Anthony then grabbed the Slytherin by the throat and slammed him against the corridor wall. Justin had been busy retrieving Malfoy's forfeited wand, and was now covering the Slytherin with not only his own magical focus, but the git's as well.

"It's time to set you straight Draco." I didn't just walk, but I strutted up to Malfoy's subdued form. "Did you or did you not hear what the headmaster said Slytherin? From this point forward you will abide by my orders. You will learn to walk, talk, act, and fight the same way that Anthony and Justin do. If you don't, and that negligence threatens the lives of the rest of us, I will hand you your heart. Do you understand me?" I said all this with as much intimidation as it was possible for me to muster. Draco took one look at me and folded like a poorly stacked deck of cards.

I turned away from the ferret and pulled out a bit of spare parchment to write a note.

_Dear Ginny,_

_Be ready in the next couple of days for instructions for the D.A. _

_Harry_

It was short, and kind of impersonal, but anything about Dumbledore's Army was very sensitive information. In fact, I probably said more than I should have. With the day I am having though, I could really care less.

"Anthony, run this up to Ginny will you. If she isn't in the common room, then give it to Ron with orders from me not to open it and relay it to no one but Ginny as soon as possible."

"You got it."

Justin, Draco, and I sat down to wait for Anthony to get back. As soon as he did we could set off to get Neville. Longbottom's inclusion seemed to be bothering Malfoy.

"Potter?"

"Yes."

"Why Longbottom?"

"What do you mean 'Why Longbottom' Draco?"

"You know exactly what I mean, half-blood. Toad boy is a stumbling, bumbling buffoon. That idiot wouldn't know a dark curse from a tickling charm, and you want to bring him along. As much as it pains me to say it, I know that you are better than me. From that little display back there it is obvious you have Davis and this pansy trained up fairly well. I have seen Longbottom in DADA and he isn't anything special, so why do you need him?"

Justin sort of flinched when Malfoy insulted his masculinity, but he knew better than to react unless I ordered him to. And even though he disagreed with the ferret's delivery, Justin seemed to fall in with Draco's sentiments.

"Go ahead, Justin. What are your thoughts on my decision to use Neville?"

"Well, Harry, I understand he must be at least functionally capable or you would have never promoted him in D.A. But like Malfoy, I have never seen him perform exceptionally well in anything but gardening. It will take us long enough to get Draco trained for combat. Why bring someone else that'll need extra help to get ready?"

You have to hand it to Fletchley. His insults concerning his commanding officer's abilities were more subtle than they would have been a year ago.

"Let me ask you two a question. Say you and a group of wizards were charged with apprehending the 'Ministry Six'…" That little moniker was the brainchild of the editors at the 'Daily Prophet'. Right after the Ministry acknowledged Voldemort's return, they launched a media blitz chronicling the entire Department of Mysteries affair to make themselves look more credible. The Prophet was more than happy to oblige, seeing as how they were in the same boat after slamming Dumbledore and I for a year. The focus of the article was to make Ginny, Luna, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and I look like we had gone to save the Ministry and not my Godfather. I was less than happy about their conclusion, and it infuriated me that they made my friends even bigger targets by grouping as all together like that. "…You would dismiss Neville as a negligible threat, wouldn't you?"

They nodded their heads without any hesitation.

"You would be wrong, and you would probably end up dead for it. Listen guys, Neville is in Gryffindor for a reason. He carries the same stuff inside him as I do. Besides, what if I were to tell you it was all an act? What if I were to tell you that I have been training Neville personally for the past few months and had him keep up a 'bumbling and stumbling' façade so that he would be a more effective fighter?"

They both seemed stunned, but Malfoy looked faintly impressed.

"I'd say it was a very Slytherin thing for you to do."

It was at that time that Anthony got back from delivering the note. He had a disturbing smirk on his face.

"Was Ginny in the common room?"

"Yes, and she told me to tell you that if you aren't the one who brings the information personally, then she is going to hex your 'reproductive organ' so thoroughly it will be rendered useless."

The three of us that hadn't already heard the message winced visibly.

"I'll keep that in mind, Davis. For now, though, let's go get Neville."

We walked out past the gates of Hogwarts, and I charmed an old rock into a portkey. We arrived just outside the wards of the Longbottom's ancestral home in the southeastern corner of England. I told Anthony and Justin to get there wands out and cover me. Draco would have to be fairly desperate to attack me so openly, but I didn't know if any of Voldemort's friends would be casing the place. The magic I was about to perform would leave me very vulnerable to attack; I wasn't about to take any chances. As I closed my eyes and started to reach out with my senses, I informed Justin and his partner of their mission.

"Listen up guys. Your assignment is 'site and steal'. I want you to find Neville, subdue him, and get him to the extraction point. You will have to use stealth. I will neutralize the wards, but you will still have to proceed with caution. Should Neville wake up, it will be very difficult, even with your combined efforts, to take him. If things start to heat up between the three of you, then you'll need to give him our group's safe word. In the event that you do fail, I will not be lenient at the debriefing."

We were about another hundred yards around the perimeter of the wards, when I felt the 'pull'. I stopped, sat down in the lotus position with my eyes closed, and I used my hands to manipulate the ward magic. I was just beginning to get into the work when Draco opened his mouth and ruined my concentration.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing Potter?"

"That is a family secret Malfoy, and if I told you then I'd have to kill you."

I thought that would be the end of it, but it seemed as if he didn't need my input to know of my abilities.

"You're a Detector aren't you?"

Well, I guess that it would be easier for a member of a well known dark family to guess at what I was doing than for most others. The question is: Can I trust him? The answer, of course, was no. But you can't earn someone's trust without giving a little in return.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am."

"From whom in your family did it come from?"

Malfoy was referring to the fact that being a Detector is a genetic gift passed down in the blood of older families. The only real natural advantage of being a member of a pureblood family is that there are just some magical abilities that you can't get otherwise.

"It was my great grandfather, William Potter, actually."

"The White Warlock of Scotland was a Detector!"

My great grandfather earned that name because he gave his life single-handily defending a group of women and children from an advancing legion of Grindewald's allies. He had done a number of other very courageous things, but what he gave his life for was his crowning achievement.

"Yes he was Draco. You really ought to forget that silly misconception about certain 'Light' and 'Dark' Arts. Of course there are some things that are inherently evil, as there are some things that are completely good; it would be impossible for one to exist without the other. But, the other ninety-five percent of magic is based on intent. It is your choices that make you what you are, Draco. The only reason you think being a Detector is so scandalous an ability for a member of such a 'Light' aligned family to have, is because so many Detectors have turned to the Dark Side. They have done so by trying to make this ability more practical in a fire-fight. You see, as it is, being able to observe and manipulate magic takes a great deal of concentration, so much so that I can't do much of anything else. That is why I am having these two cover me, because otherwise I would be a sitting duck. Wizards in the past have gone crazy subjecting themselves to terrible rituals involving innocent sacrifices to increase the scope of their talent in this particular art. In my gift's most basic form, all it does is connect me to my own magic more completely. It gives me a sort of 'sixth sense' about the magic that surrounds me. Also, one of the reasons it is so infamous is because with enough time I can disable wards. The 'Old Guard' doesn't much like it when their security is threatened. Maybe if you people did, the wizarding world wouldn't be in the trouble it is with Voldemort right now.

It took me nearly thirty minutes, but with enough patience I was able to bring the wards down. What's more, I was able to do so without alerting anyone on the inside of the house or at Ministry to our presence. I unfurled the map of the estate and pointed out certain entrances and exits that the two could use. I also pointed out Neville's and his Gran's rooms. Justin and Anthony suited up and moved out. I watched them disappear into the house and turned to Draco; I just knew he had some more questions.

"What was all that?"

"What do you know about wards Malfoy?"

"Next to nothing actually."

"Well, the simpler ones that are erected around certain areas like 'Notice-Me-Not' charms and such are easily dispelled with a _Finite_. The _Fidelis_, on the other hand, is the most secure protection that you can erect. Trying to disable a _Fidelis _without the secret is like trying to hold water in the palm of your hand, but it is that same said secret that is its disadvantage. It is very difficult to continue to live a life on the level you have grown accustomed to under a_ Fidelis_. No one but your secret keeper knows you. It isn't like you're invisible if you go out into public, but you wouldn't be recognized if you walked up to a life-long friend and told them your name. That is the reason why blood wards are the most popular. Blood wards, while not as complete a defense as _Fidelis_, are still very complex and powerful. They are strong and difficult to neutralize because they integrate with the magic of the very lands and family they are trying to protect. The magic involved with the wards is all about glyphs and focal points. To completely immobilize it, I have to rewrite the arithmancy and alter the runes of the glyphs to isolate the focal point. Once I get there I have to have blood from the family member to disable the focal point. One of the real reasons, aside from Occlumency, that I have gotten so good at Runes and Arithmancy is because it is apart of me and crucial to my family's history."

"How did you get a hold of Longbottom's blood?"

"One of the most important tasks of the D.A is to prepare Hogwarts for evacuation should Voldemort ever grow the stones to face Dumbledore head on. One of the only two places large enough and secure enough on our side to house the population of Hogwarts comfortably is Longbottom Estates. In case Neville himself is unable to open up his home in case of emergency, then he has entrusted in me a vial of blood and a map of his home. On the same token, Neville has my blood and a map of Potter Mansion."

"Somehow, I don't think he shared this confidence to be kidnapped."

"Neville is a soldier. He'll get over it."

Just as I said that, Justin and Anthony marched up with the object of our conversation sedated and floating behind them.

"We've got Longbottom and his equipment Harry; where to next?"

"Back to Hogwarts Anthony."

**A/N:** I could make up a sorry ass excuse as to why it has been nearly a year since I updated, but it probably wouldn't matter anyway. I'm likely to have an entirely new audience as it is. But, I am out of school with a free summer. Hopefully, I can get through at least half a dozen more chapters before it is all said and done.

**Next Chapter:** Neville, the amazing, wonder-Gryffindor.


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